I saw this commercial for the University of Phoenix a few times and I really like it. The first time I saw it, I had no idea what it was for until the end. Now when I watch it, I see it with a totally different perspective. It is showing that students today are not free to just be students. They have other responsibilities that need to be taken care of. It reminded me of what we said in class that a lot of students are full time students and also work one or two jobs. It really sends a message out that the university understands what a current student’s life could be like. Plus, I really like the accompanying song (a remake/rendition of the Wizard of Oz song).
Oh, and the caption for this video on their YouTube channel is this: “University of Phoenix students come with more than just brains.”
This is an EXCELLENT marketing campaign. I had not seen the commercial until your post, but I think that it is interesting for a few reasons.
Firstly, like you said, I am really loving the song. It’s catchy and familiar, but beyond that, the singer pays good attention to inflection, calling out viewers on what they seem to be labeling brainlessness for thinking University of Phoenix students are lesser than other graduates. The advertisement is imploring potential students and future employers of its students alike to think twice about what it means to attend the University of Phoenix by appealing to our empathetic sides while simultaneously insulting non-believers’ intelligence (“you’re gonna want someone like me, but only if you’ve got a brain”). It is clever if not completely convincing. By casting students as hard workers and well-rounded individuals with complex lives, UoP is selling its students more than it’s own education.
Secondly, I’d like to take a moment to focus on the line “A degree is a degree.” In a world where accreditation is everything to schools, this is an interesting approach to attracting students. While other schools are fighting over titles and rankings from academia to dorm rooms to sports teams, UoP seems to be saying “but who cares?” After our class’s own conversations about the value of a school’s brand, I’d be interested in knowing what fellow students think of this one. Again, this commercial seems to be championing UoP’s students, but diminishing the value of its own “product.”
This commercial has not changed my mind about the value of the University of Phoenix’s education because of its lack of interest in accreditation, but it has absolutely driven home the value of students who are attracted to online education. Considering how UoP is currently failing and considering purchase options, I wonder if this campaign was a last-ditch effort in the hopes to drive up numbers for the coming school year.
I definitely agree that I really liked this commercial. People who don’t have access to the same timeframes as regular students can definitely use this type of education to further their knowledge and qualifications. It is also a good example of how hard some people have to work in order to get what they need, such as the lady in the diner holding her baby and doing work on the computer. It really showed me the importance of these type of courses.
I really loved this commercial. I also saw a video on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj7edp8qA8o
in which it claims its an advertisement for MOOCs from the 1980’s. I don’t know if this is entirely true, but part of the advertisement says that you receive a tape every week and then login somewhere to post answers to test questions, so since the process involves sending tapes, I’m assuming the advertisement is quite (relatively) old. But I found it funny that sometime around the 1980’s this MOOC advertisement says welcome to the future, and today, it’s been nearly 30-40 years since then and MOOCs are still not the norm and are still advertised as “the future of education” when its been advertised like this for the last couple decades.