YaleShmale
August 26, 2006 10:33 PM Subscribe
YaleShmale "Graduating from an Ivy League university doesn't necessarily mean you're smart."
The pitch certainly proves the point.
No; it means you're either smart or the child of a rich person.
posted by mrnutty at 11:05 PM on August 26, 2006
posted by mrnutty at 11:05 PM on August 26, 2006
Well... I must say it's pretty interesting that a university would use the ridiculing of the president as a sales pitch. Even though I agree that Bush deserves ridicule (not to mention impeachment), there's something about this smug approach that I find distasteful. I think if I were in the market for a university to attend, I'd drop this one straightaway based on this intellectually easy and ultimately childish advertising gimmick.
And since it is, after all, simply an ad, I guess I'd chime in with the old Pepsi Blue as well...
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:15 AM on August 27, 2006
And since it is, after all, simply an ad, I guess I'd chime in with the old Pepsi Blue as well...
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:15 AM on August 27, 2006
Oh man, I'd love to go to a college directly tailored to a particular political opinion!
Not.
posted by Citizen Premier at 4:27 AM on August 27, 2006
Not.
posted by Citizen Premier at 4:27 AM on August 27, 2006
Just remember that this isn't partisan--lots of Republicans think Bush is an idiot, too.
posted by sexymofo at 6:26 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by sexymofo at 6:26 AM on August 27, 2006
Notice that the advertiser is a Canadian university. I don't think an American university would run this ad for fear of alienating some potential students. But in Canada, they KNOW no one outside the USA has any regard for Bush.
posted by ubiquity at 6:27 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by ubiquity at 6:27 AM on August 27, 2006
The yaleshmale page just forwards to Lakewood, so this could very just be anybody, i.e. a fan of the university, not the university itself. I'm sure the university will end up having to issue a statement clarifying it.
The site is hosted by dreamhost, but the domain is handled by Lakewood U's nameservers. Probably a student/staff thing, not official marketing. On the other hand, there is no such thing as bad press ...
posted by intermod at 7:30 AM on August 27, 2006
The site is hosted by dreamhost, but the domain is handled by Lakewood U's nameservers. Probably a student/staff thing, not official marketing. On the other hand, there is no such thing as bad press ...
posted by intermod at 7:30 AM on August 27, 2006
Unfortunately the Canadian University is not creating a very good argument. The discussion should be around intelligence, and universities (as well as most others) are poor are judging intelligence - we have test scores. Involvement in community and activities are finally being judged as part of the entrance interview.
The other point I would make is folks that fall into the category of the Ivy schools - or for that matter anyone at the top of their game actually will work harder than most. People get A's on tests mainly because they worked harder than those that got B's. So it's part intelligence and part work - I don't think that is a surprise.
The one thing I like about the Canadian pitch is they are saying it doesn't matter what you are today, it matters who you will become. I agree, but what most people don't realize is it takes work.
Now, someone may come up with a few cases where they know "Bob" or "Sally" who never studied and got A's. Sure, and I know a few geniuses who work at 7-11. My point is in general people work for what they achieve - some brains, some sweat. The folks who become doctors have worked for the past 12 years to get there; the pulitzer prize winners have slaved over a keyboard to write, rewrite, and write again the literature. And on it goes.
To pick out President Shrub as a case where brains don't matter is an injustice to what education is all about. He doesn't represent the collection. What he does represent is another aspect of life, and that is connections.
I remember having lunch with a freshman student a few years back and asked what they did over the summer - the student worked at Johns Hopkins doing AIDS research in a lab (schlep work but still getting the experience of the environment.) This hammered home for me the combination of sweat, brains and connections. The trifecta is powerful.
posted by fluffycreature at 8:21 AM on August 27, 2006
As a Canuckian, that ad is *still* lame...
posted by storybored at 8:22 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by storybored at 8:22 AM on August 27, 2006
So I'm to believe that it's Lakehead U in Thunder Bay -- not the U of T, not Queens, not Carleton, not McGill, not even UBC or Western Ontario -- that has to worry about its applicants deciding en masse to go to Ivies instead?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:36 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:36 AM on August 27, 2006
YaleSheMale?
posted by PenguinBukkake at 8:39 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by PenguinBukkake at 8:39 AM on August 27, 2006
"Canada's #1 Value Added University"
So does that mean I get a free plastic toy with my McDiploma?
posted by furtive at 9:01 AM on August 27, 2006
So does that mean I get a free plastic toy with my McDiploma?
posted by furtive at 9:01 AM on August 27, 2006
Didn't Bush prove this in 2000 to the greatest audience possible?
posted by Busithoth at 9:11 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by Busithoth at 9:11 AM on August 27, 2006
reassuringly, there's only one google hit for the phrase "yale shemale"
posted by jepler at 9:58 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by jepler at 9:58 AM on August 27, 2006
Why go to Lakehead, when you can go to the university that's hot, hot, hot?
posted by storybored at 10:46 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by storybored at 10:46 AM on August 27, 2006
It was a brilliant marketing strategy. Now millions of Americans have heard of Lakehead U. Plus, it was obviously a very tongue-in-cheek advertisement designed to start this sort of discussion... We are all pawns of Lakehead. It also highlights the fact that morons can graduate from Yale... and become president.
posted by weezy at 10:57 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by weezy at 10:57 AM on August 27, 2006
Having just returned from Toronto, this ad is one of two I saw all over town making fun of mr. bush. Seems this is part of current trend in edgy Canadian advertising.
An ad for Audiobooks was the other.
I find the ads: a. funny b. embarrassing and c. effecctive. They are indeed very targeted marketing that works.
and, sadly, true.
posted by fellene at 12:33 PM on August 27, 2006
An ad for Audiobooks was the other.
I find the ads: a. funny b. embarrassing and c. effecctive. They are indeed very targeted marketing that works.
and, sadly, true.
posted by fellene at 12:33 PM on August 27, 2006
Yeah, because smart people freeze their asses off in Thunder Bay studying at what is essentially a rural community college.
posted by dobie at 2:08 PM on August 27, 2006
posted by dobie at 2:08 PM on August 27, 2006
So does that mean I get a free plastic toy with my McDiploma?
Didn't you see the 'win a PSP' bit at the bottom of the page?
posted by Sparx at 2:09 PM on August 27, 2006
Didn't you see the 'win a PSP' bit at the bottom of the page?
posted by Sparx at 2:09 PM on August 27, 2006
hmmm... regardless of whether Lakewood is a place you worthy of your attendance. I am still fascinated with the role of satire in Canadian marketing and media. Consider this post on chandrasutra--
Canadians, like the British, are exposed to satire from a very early age and I'd argue that this defines our sense of humour and love of irony over vulgarity....
And when I look at most of the cultural products that come from the US, particularly their comedy, I can see why: they're just not raised to appreciate satire or irony.
are these posts proving that statement to be true?
posted by fellene at 2:28 PM on August 27, 2006
Canadians, like the British, are exposed to satire from a very early age and I'd argue that this defines our sense of humour and love of irony over vulgarity....
And when I look at most of the cultural products that come from the US, particularly their comedy, I can see why: they're just not raised to appreciate satire or irony.
are these posts proving that statement to be true?
posted by fellene at 2:28 PM on August 27, 2006
I thought Nipissing was the number one value added university , i.e. the university whose students made the most improvement while studying there.
Lakehead seems like a nice place. Thunderbay is a bit concrete and dreary, but the surrounding wilderness is stunning. And the campus must be better looking than York's. There are gulags in Siberia which are more inviting and pleasant to walk around than York's main campus on a January day.
posted by jb at 8:09 AM on August 28, 2006
Lakehead seems like a nice place. Thunderbay is a bit concrete and dreary, but the surrounding wilderness is stunning. And the campus must be better looking than York's. There are gulags in Siberia which are more inviting and pleasant to walk around than York's main campus on a January day.
posted by jb at 8:09 AM on August 28, 2006
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posted by delmoi at 11:04 PM on August 26, 2006