Truth in advertising offends college alumni
A fundraising letter from Framingham State College (that's an Ivy League school, right?) misfired by repeating the word "blah" 137 times, thus offending some of the 6,000 alumni who were solicited. The note began: "With the recent economic downturn and loan crisis, it has become even more important for Framingham State College to receive your support. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah," and ended about 130 "blahs" later. The school said it was trying to inject some edgy, young-person humor into the mix. If they must reference the economy when begging for funds, I'd suggest turning those "blahs" into teary-eyed "waaahs" about half-way down the page. Actually, FSU's effort is a lot more entertaining than the missives my alma matter Boston University (an Ivy League wannabe!) sends to hit me up for money. This year, I'll simply return their solicitation with a one-word reply: "Naaah."
—Posted by David Gianatasio
|
|
October 22, 2008 in Colleges, Controversy, Gianatasio | Permalink
|
Comments
People need to lighten up.
Posted by: Art Vandalay | Oct 22, 2008 8:53:50 AM
But edgy, young people can't afford to donate yet. If they were hitting up the old wealthy folks (Framingham alumni get jobs, right?), then they weren't speaking their language; if they were targeting recent graduates then...well, they weren't getting anything, anyway.
+1 for Ivy-wannabes!
Posted by: sleeping in my party dress | Oct 22, 2008 12:52:36 PM
BU isn't a wannabe Ivy. It's a wannabe wannabe Ivy.
Posted by: Jess | Oct 22, 2008 12:58:23 PM
"Naaah:" LOL!
Posted by: CKL | Oct 22, 2008 3:07:12 PM
Post a comment
The opinions expressed in comments are those of the individual poster. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Adweek or Nielsen Business Media. Comments of a promotional nature or comments that are otherwise inappropriate may be removed.
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
