Hey Kids – Wannabe A D+ Student?
This just in….a new candidate for the Advertising Hall Of What Were They Thinking?
Drake University is attempting to lure students and parents with their “D+” Campaign.
According to AdWeek:
Drake University officials are feverishly scrambling to explain why they thought “D+” would be a great theme for a recruitment ad campaign. The D+ is meant to be shorthand for the magic that occurs when Drake plus a student get together. To many, though, it seems to position Drake as a school whose standards barely exceed total failure. However, in a note to faculty and staff this week, Drake defends the campaign as “intentionally edgy,” and just right for the target market. “The D+ was not designed to stand alone or represent a grade. Instead, it was designed to be paired with prose and draw attention to the distinctive advantages of the Drake experience,” reads the note. “Our experience in the survey and in the field suggests that the kind of students whom we want to attract to Drake easily understand and appreciate the irony of the D+, and that it is having the intended effect of encouraging students to find out more about what makes Drake so special.”
Certainly edgy enough to create a viral spread of comments about how the wisdom of this campaign. Â Time will tell. Â I think someone in marketing should have stood up and asked the ad agency “Guys, do you know what we DO here?”.
I think what is even funnier is that they hide behind the argument ‘you just don’t understand, because you are not the demo we are targeting’
““Our experience in the survey and in the field suggests that the kind of students whom we want to attract to Drake easily understand and appreciate the irony of the D+,….”
Basically, saying “you don’t get it, but they do”
lol
I find that ironic!