FB: American Rivers Conference

[Purple Heys]

The fun part of the Combine is the disinformation bandied about by the various teams.

That butt headed big tackle from Alabama who buffed the workouts will not slide tothe bottom half of the 1st round draft...unless he next tests positive for dope or beats up on a female.  Short of that LT's are a commodity in short supply and can make a passing game.  The kid just needs to play it right from here.

[Purple Heys]

Hey guys I have not posted in a while so I thought that I would drop in and see whats happening.  I have been busy with work and training for a triathlon.  Yes folks a fat old oline man is trying his dardest to compete in a triathlon race this May down in Memphis. 

Doolittle FYI:  A triathlon is running, swimming, and biking all in one event.  It does not consist of running to the market, swimming through the apple orchard, and biking to the Wiggles concert

Where do you swim?  In a pond, lake, or river?  Do you ever get leaches?

Triathalons out here use that thing called the ocean.  You swim faster because of the possibility of sharks.

[Klopenhiemer]

Hey guys I have not posted in a while so I thought that I would drop in and see whats happening.  I have been busy with work and training for a triathlon.  Yes folks a fat old oline man is trying his dardest to compete in a triathlon race this May down in Memphis. 

Doolittle FYI:  A triathlon is running, swimming, and biking all in one event.  It does not consist of running to the market, swimming through the apple orchard, and biking to the Wiggles concert

Where do you swim?  In a pond, lake, or river?  Do you ever get leaches?

Triathalons out here use that thing called the ocean.  You swim faster because of the possibility of sharks.

Have you ever seen the movie Stand By Me?  That should explain the leeches thing   I swim in a pool for practice and will swim in a lake for the race.  After the race I plan on swimming in some fine pale ales!

[sportsknight]

Does Wartburg work with an agency to create their advertising?

If by "work with" you mean "turn over total creative control," then yes.  Wartburg has been "working with" ME&V of Cedar Falls since 2002 or 2003.  They are the ones that came up with the whole "Be Orange" campaign.  Last I knew, Wartburg was giving them a cool quarter mil a year, but that was 4-5 years ago and that number may have changed.

For the record, the orange zebra ad makes me throw up in my mouth a little every time I see it (for those who have not seen it, you can subject yourselves to the horror here:  [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTP1P-d67z4[/ur]).  Not only is the whole "fake TV news program" idea completely played-out (see the latest Iowa Lottery ad for further evidence), but I can't imagine this spot convincing any high school students to come to Wartburg.  Granted, I don't know the inner workings of the 18-year-old mind, but as an immature 25-year-old, I'm not too far removed from that timeframe.  On top of all that, what really chaps my ass is the fact that Wartburg decided to not use any actual Wartburg Televison staffers to appear in the ad.  As a proud alumnus of the organization, I can say with a great deal of certainty that Wartburg has one of, if not THE best student-run TV operations in Iowa.  And yet the college decided against putting that talent on display in favor of showcasing, well, I don't know what.  This may be too harsh, but if you ask me, no commercial would be better than that POS.

[warthog]

I'm not a marketing guru, but which college's ad are we talking about?  Yes, the orange zebra on a stick is corny, but we seem to remember the ad and the college it is promoting. 

Here in the Quad-Cities there are several ads running for various colleges.  Everyone features some apple pie co-ed telling you she attends a college of distinction which features outstanding academics (flash a clip of a chemistry lab), competitive athletics (flash a clip of a basketball game), exceptional fine arts (flash a clip of a choir), a beautiful campus (flash a clip of students walking on a tree lined sidewalk).  This is all followed by co-ed smiling and saying, "Find yourself at Blahblah College".  It seems there isn't a pinch of difference between any of these schools.  Now throw in a spoof of a newscast with an orange zebra on a stick dancing around in a herd of zebras that all look alike and you have something to remember.  Corny as all hell, but you do remember it.

At first I thought the whole "Be Orange" campaign was a little lame, but now it has kind of grown on people.  I couldn't even get BEORNGE, BORANGE, or ORANGE on my Wartburg license plates.

[DBQ1965]

DBQ - are you still planning on setting up the March Madness thing on Espen?

I never properly gloated over my victory in the Bowl Challenge...  8)

Yes ... I will set that up as soon as the March Madness pairings are announced in a few weeks.  It will be interesting to see if you do as well with games involving a round-ball as you did with games involving an  oblate spheroid.

[doolittledog]

warthog makes a fair point.  When you get to the half time of any major college game and you then get the commercial for each of the two schools playing in that game, you pretty much get the same add from both schools.  To the point where you pretty much tune both of them out.  I cringed the first time I saw that Wartburg commercial, but I did remember it.  Remembering it is good, hopefully that sticks in someones mind, and then later when it is time to more seriously look at schools they take a deeper look at what Wartburg has to offer.  You just don't want to take the risk of someone remembering the ad and thinking there is NO way I am going to that school.  

I suppose your other options would be to play to the economy..."Go to our school, we offer a boatload of finantial aid"  Or scare the kid...show clips of the wrestling team and then have them say..."Come to our school or we'll hunt you down and kick your ass"  Play up the party atmoshere (at the risk of alienating cautious parents)  "Come to our school...our RA's take a blind eye to dorm parties and most students have a morally casual attitude"  

I suppose you could use your schools unique qualities.  Cornell could push their one-course-at-a-time.  Dubuque could push their aviation department.  Schools could promote their facilities and especially in these economic times their job placement after graduation.  

[doolittledog]

Hey guys I have not posted in a while so I thought that I would drop in and see whats happening.  I have been busy with work and training for a triathlon.  Yes folks a fat old oline man is trying his dardest to compete in a triathlon race this May down in Memphis. 

Doolittle FYI:  A triathlon is running, swimming, and biking all in one event.  It does not consist of running to the market, swimming through the apple orchard, and biking to the Wiggles concert

Klop, I admire the fact you are training for a triathalon.  I get winded just rushing the garbage to the edge of the driveway tuesday mornings!!!  Other than chasing kids my only excersize has been speed walking 2 miles at night...which doesn't happen 6 months out of the year because of the cold.  My in-laws have been talking about getting their unused bow-flex and tread mill out of their basement and over to our house.  Then maybe I can get into some sort of better shape.  That would help me in my rush to the concession stand at half-time of football games

[dutchfan1]

I agree with Warthog in the distinctiveness of the spots. They do stand out from the other college spots I'm seeing that follow the same formula. I'm a bit disappointed in ME&V, though -- they usually turn out better work than the zebra spot. It's straight up dumb. The fake TV news program is being done everywhere -- lacks originality and (like SK mentioned) doesn't showcase the program very well. As a marketing person, I KNOW they can do better.

But hey, they are raising the level of consciousness -- hell, people really associate "Be Orange" with Wartburg these days. That's more than what I can say for Central's advertising (or lack thereof).....

[Alfredeneumann]

I agree with Warthog in the distinctiveness of the spots. They do stand out from the other college spots I'm seeing that follow the same formula. I'm a bit disappointed in ME&V, though -- they usually turn out better work than the zebra spot. It's straight up dumb. The fake TV news program is being done everywhere -- lacks originality and (like SK mentioned) doesn't showcase the program very well. As a marketing person, I KNOW they can do better.

But hey, they are raising the level of consciousness -- hell, people really associate "Be Orange" with Wartburg these days. That's more than what I can say for Central's advertising (or lack thereof).....

I don't think ANY of us are from the 14-18 demographic the add is aimed at. I think it is a silly add too, but not aimed @ me.

SK- The "anchor" is a CA major, probably not electronic media. She did go to the summer broadcasting camp while she was in HS.

[KCDutch]

I don't think ANY of us are from the 14-18 demographic the add is aimed at. I think it is a silly add too, but not aimed @ me.

I just thought it wasn't a very good advertisement for Wartburg.  I guess I expected more from Wartburg.  I haven't seen any Central ads, but if they contain something about finding/dissecting the old red dinosaur (which was an embarrassing mascot at football games!)...I'll be the first to admit they are not good.

Some of us might have the maturity level of 14-18 year olds......

[Walston Hoover]

 Or scare the kid...show clips of the wrestling team and then have them say..."Come to our school or we'll hunt you down and kick your ass"  

I'm sold on that one!

[coocooforcoekohawk]

I saw some Wrigley reminiscing earlier so I thought I would share some prices form Sunday 7/7/74:  (my first Cubs game.)

Amount shown is price plus Illinois use tax.

Oscar Mayer Weiner  $.45
Bratwurst                  $.50
Hamburger                $.50
BBQ Beef Sandwich   $.55
Corned Beef Sand.    $.70
Italian Beef Sand.     $.80
Heileman's Old Style $.60
Schlitz Beer               $.60

[coocooforcoekohawk]

More Cubs prices from 7/7/74

Amount shown is price plus Illinois use tax:

Pack of Cigarettes           $.60
Wrigley's Gum (7sticks )  $.10
French Fries                    $.30
Borden's Frosty Malt       $.30
Coca-Cola or Fresca       $.25
Popcorn                          $.20
Peanuts                          $.15 & $.25
Home Juice Lemonade    $.25

[coocooforcoekohawk]

Even more Cubs prices from 7/7/74

Amount shown is price plus Illinois use tax.

Pennant                 $.75
Bobble Head Doll   $2.00
Souvenir Caps       $2.00 & $3.00
Cubs Helmet          $2.00
Cubs T-shirt           $2.25 & $2.50
Autographed Ball   $3.00
Ball Holder             $1.50
Color Picture         
Player Badge         $1.00