Every time I watch a Tech sporting event on television, I see the same commercial over and over. I’m not talking about the dumb Nissan Rogue commercial where they drive the car on top of the train. I’m talking about Tech’s commercial featuring Nick Selby. Quite frankly, it’s time for Tech to pull the commercial from television. I do not know Selby, but he seemed to be an excellent representative for Tech in all of the interviews of him that I saw online. This is in no way some kind of personal attack on Selby himself, just what I believe would best benefit Tech.
“I completely understand why Tech originally thought it would be a good idea to make the speech into a commercial.”
I completely understand why Tech originally thought it would be a good idea to make the speech into a commercial. The speech was unique, funny and most importantly sent a message that Tech wants prospective students to believe: that attending Tech will help you fulfill your dreams. Since the speech had gone viral, it was something that people across the entire country would easily be able to remember. Unfortunately, as with just about anything else played too often, the commercial has just become old. Instead of fulfilling its purpose of introducing me to all the great opportunities that are possible while attending Tech, it has just become an annoying commercial that makes me immediately change the channel.
One of my biggest issues with the commerical is that I don’t believe that it appeals to most of the people who spend their afternoons watching college football. This isn’t to say that you can’t be interested in both building an Iron Man suit and sports, but that just isn’t typically the case. When you have the opportunity to display your school on national television, you should get the most out of it.
I also think it’s important that Tech’s commercials aren’t solely directed at prospective students. There are plenty of reasons that Tech should want to appeal to adults who never went to Tech and to kids who never plan on going to Tech. From the athletic department’s point of view, having more fans typically leads to increased revenue through sales of tickets and apparel. Increased revenue is never a bad thing.
“When you have the opportunity to display your school on national television, you should get the most of it.”
What I would like to see Tech do for the next set of commercials is to feature famous alumni and former athletes. Imagine a commercial featuring Calvin Johnson talking about his time at Tech. He could speak not only about his athletic career here at Tech, but also his academic accomplishments. Maybe one could feature Mike Duke, the former CEO and president of Wal-Mart. Tech could also feature more recent alumni, such as 2014 Rhodes Scholar Melissa McCoy. Having several commercials each featuring a different person would solve multiple problems. Not only would Tech have more than one commercial to increase variation instead of just showing the same one over and over, but by choosing people from different fields, the school can appeal to people with different interests.