Dilly Dilly.
In rare circumstances, advertising campaigns become a cultural phenomenon. That is the case with Bud Light’s “Dilly Dilly” campaign and the Wendy’s ”Where’s the beef?” campaign back in the 1980s. The LSU Advertising Federation sees the “Dilly Dilly” campaign and knows it can do better.
The LSU AdFed is a student organization on campus modeled after the American Advertising Federation, a national community of advertising agencies. AdFed’s mission is “to protect and promote the well-being of advertising.”
The 50-member LSU AdFed accomplishes its mission every other Wednesday at 7 p.m. when they meet in the Journalism Building’s Holliday Forum. The biweekly meetings always have a guest speaker, typically from the Baton Rouge area, to cover a different aspect of advertising. LSU AdFed President Tiffany Landry said she enjoys seeing the different advertisements produced by University students and alumni.
“I honestly can’t wait to see what people come up with in advertising, and even what some of the people who are at LSU might come up with one day,” LSU AdFed President Tiffany Landry said.
One of LSU AdFed’s major goals, is to lay the groundwork for further advertising opportunities. Members connect with Baton Rouge professionals and alumni throughout the nation. The AdFed designs these networking and career opportunities to help students get internships and scholarships.
“We are always networking with professionals, which is how a lot of our students get internships and job opportunities,” Landry said.
The LSU AdFed hosts guest speakers and conferences throughout the semester to help students gain a better understanding of the advertising industry.
Digital advertising sophomore Kathryn Suarez began her University tenure studying mechanical engineering before encountering the LSU AdFed in a class.
“I wanted to work in a creative field but also something analytical,” Suarez said. “The only plausible solution to that I could think of was advertising, but I really had no idea what advertising entailed.” Now in her second year, Suarez is taking advertising classes and gained a greater sense of understanding in AdFed.
“Through AdFed I learned all that I know about advertising,” Suarez said. “If I hadn’t joined AdFed, I would be looking around not knowing what is going on.”
In fall 2017, members of the LSU AdFed toured well-known agencies in New York City such as BBDO and 72andSunny. Visits like the one to New York City provide members with an up-close look at cutting-edge advertising.
“These are places that create national ads like you’ll see during the Super Bowl,” Landry said. “It was really surreal, it was awesome.”
The AdFed is open to any student at LSU and strongly encourages advertising majors to join.
“Even if you just have an interest in how advertising works in general, maybe you are a Mad Men fan and you want to know how advertising works now, anyone can come to AdFed,” Landry said.
For now, “Dilly Dilly” is America’s favorite ad. Tomorrow, it may be the work of the LSU Advertising Federation.
