Amid a global economic recession, one area of the economy is inversely growing larger: advertising.
It takes the slightest amount of cultural awareness to notice advertising’s prominence in otherwise dire economic times.
From All State’s sartorially sharp “Mayhem”  to UPS’s marker-yielding magician of whiteboards to FreeCreditReport.com’s stupefying jingle-band, corporations are consistently turning to advertising to entice penny-pinching customers.
Even BP, whose fiscal security is as uncertain as whatever gender-indicating secrets lie inside Lady Gaga’s meat trousers, is expanding the advertising budget to clean up the residue of the PR nightmare that is the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion. About $93 million of its oil spill expenditures has gone to advertising — a chunk of change some coastal residents wouldn’t mind seeing split up into claims checks.
These companies aren’t alone in their efforts to market themselves. Despite an economy with more holes than the plot of “Lost,” advertising spending in the first half of 2010 increased 5.7 percent nationwide, totaling $63.57 billion, according to Kantar Media.
It’s no surprise, then, to see the trend has slipped past the perch of the University gates’ pelican sentries and into the very heart of campus, as the “Love Purple, Live Gold” advertising campaign for 2010 is in full flight.
“Love Purple, Live Gold” was a two-year project of the Office of Communications and University Relations, geared at attracting more students to the University. After extensive surveying, researchers found the three words most associated with the University were “big,” “spirited” and “athletic,” according to the campaign website.
That’s why — although it debuted in New Orleans and North Louisiana in August — the campaign fully kicked off with football season.
This campaign announces the University’s intentions to use athletics (see: football) as a platform upon which the rest of the University’s entities (see: boring academics) can be presented to potential students.
All it takes is a viewing of the campaign’s TV spot to see the emphasis on football. Most students featured in the 33-second piece are either athletes or athletic supporters, and the jocks and jockstraps receive more focus than the professors or students.
While shots of the Quad, the University’s social backbone, are blurred and hurried, junior running back Stevan Ridley is seen strolling on campus in full uniform, He does so, however, sans helmet, which should earn him a 15-yard penalty — but we all know football players get away with anything on campus.
Still, it’s hard to criticize the University for taking this approach. Whether we like it or not, football is the campus’ biggest draw, and a large population of students only enroll here for gameday experiences.
And it’s not like University Relations failed to do its homework. This campaign is far more organized and concise than any we’ve put out in the past. “Welcome to the Now: Evo Devo” was the first kiss of University advertising campaigns — embarrassing, awkward and only to be recalled under influence of hard liquor.
The best part of the new commercial is it knows its target audience, which explains the athletic spotlight or why the commercial feels a bit cheesy. The forced smiles and over-sentimental student interaction would make Zack Morris question the school’s authenticity, and the whole spot seems like a build-up for a High School Musical number.
But that’s exactly the appeal needed here. High school students aren’t sophisticated, highbrow or even that smart, for the most part. This is a generation of kids who grew up with Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus as their cultural influences, so tacky, homespun pathos is precisely the right call.
The campaign has downfalls, however. Creatively, the ad’s slogan is confusing and vague. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to love and what I’m supposed to live color-wise. The connection between color and meaning is weak, at best, and the marketing experts behind the ads would have done well to consult the more creative minds on campus.
Culturally, however, the ads reflect an unfortunate hierarchy of principles. The sad truth is football will always appeal more than research, and our ads — if they desire to be effective — will always reflect this.
Ads must appeal to cultural priorities, and while I’d love to say advertising exerts stronger influence on culture, it will usually be the other way around — with an exception for the most creative ads.
In general, however, advertising consumes us more than we consume advertising, and there’s no place to hide — not even within the safety of campus gates.
But hell, what do I know? “Evo Devo” was good enough to buy my tuition.
Cody Worsham is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_Cworsham.
 
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Contact Cody Worsham at [email protected]