With a Tiger face on one side of a small plastic baseball and “LSU” on the other, the University is the first collegiate property to have its own PEZ dispenser.
According to D’Ann Morris, manager of the Tiger Card Office, a number of professional athletic teams have PEZ dispensers, including the Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Orlando Magic and Seattle Supersonics.
The University has been working with PEZ for 18 months, Morris said.
The Tiger Gift Center gave away the LSU PEZ dispensers to the first 1,500 people who entered the gates of Alex Box Stadium to promote the LSU baseball game against the University of Georgia this past weekend, Morris said.
While supplies last, students who make a $50 or more deposit into their Tiger Cash accounts will receive a free LSU PEZ dispenser. Deposits can be made online or at the Tiger Card Office in the Union, said Fay Franklin, an administrative specialist for the Tiger Card Office.
“It would be a cool little gift for someone, but it’s not a good enough incentive to put $50 on my Tiger Card,” said Beau Broussard, a general studies senior.
The PEZ dispenser is not available at the campus bookstore because it is a promotional item right now, Morris said.
However, Rebecca Adams, a biological science senior, said she thinks people would purchase the dispensers if they were sold at the Union, concession stands and check-out counters in stores.
Morris said the University ordered approximately 15,000 PEZ dispensers — the minimum order for a “sports promo” PEZ dispenser.
“Response, from students to fans has been amazing,” Morris said.
All dispensers are purple and come with two flavors of candy — grape and orange, said Franklin.
“I wouldn’t put $50 on my Tiger Card at the end of the semester,” said Courtney Friedman, a general studies freshman.
Some students feel that putting $50 on their Tiger Card does not make sense if they live off campus.
“I don’t eat PEZ that much, and I live off campus, so I wouldn’t put $50 on my Tiger Card because I would never use it all,” said Kelli Alford, a general studies junior.
Students expressed various opinions about the look of the new dispenser.
“They should put a tiger’s eye on the PEZ dispenser like the huge blow-up tiger eye that’s in a fan’s front yard on Stanford,” said Jon Grimley, a general studies senior.
Jonathan Miller, a general studies senior, said he thinks the old Tiger logo should be on the dispenser because he does not like the way the new one looks.
Plans are being made for additional PEZ dispensers in the future because of the demand, Morris said. The next goal is to have a football dispenser in another 18 months, if not sooner.