The Clarion

Issue date: 8/24/09 Section: Opinion

If you have not opened a copy of the Wisconsin State Journal in the last month, brace yourself; you're in for a nasty surprise. The new Madison Area Technical College advertising campaign is far worse than a sunglass-wearing globe, and more embarrassing than sexist registration posters.

The students in the graphic design program are known for its amazing designs, winning Addy awards year after year. That being said, one must wonder what runs through the minds of the marketing department, when the college image is put into the hands of individuals who seem to be notorious for embarrassing the college. I honestly thought last year's sexist, insulting registration posters took the cake (pun intended), but it just seems to be getting worse.

Is MATC really M.A. Too Cool that they have to hire some outside guy to doodle what looks like drawings by a five year-old, rather than reach out to its own kin to find someone to advertise the school? Since when are these drawings, that are used to market our establishment, even acceptable as ads? They look like thumbnail sketches, waiting to be turned into "real" ads.

Myself, along with a few other concerned individuals within the realm of MATC graphic design, decided to use Facebook to show off some of the ads currently running in the Wisconsin State Journal, as well as to get some opinions on the matter. The overall response was quite alarming. Nearly 130 individuals consisting of staff, students, faculty, and outsiders to MATC were shocked, appalled, and embarrassed by the new ad campaign.

A handful of others contacted me privately, explaining that they didn't want to reveal their identities because of their jobs, but they agree with my stance on this campaign. Myself, along with other students felt that had we not been previously enrolled in MATC, these ads would turn us away quickly, and force us to matriculate elsewhere.

If I were the individual(s) who hired the one responsible, I would most certainly be hanging my head in shame. The humor used in the ads seem about twenty-years too late in terms of being up to date with what's funny, cool, and acceptable to the target audience. The younger audience doesn't seem to completely "get it" and the older audience who does "get it" finds the humor to be an embarrassment more than anything.

Although it's mostly been the Design-savvy individuals speaking up about the ads, there are people in several other programs that feel they are really taking a slap in the face by what some of them have to say. For a college who is trying to prove that they are not an underdog to UW Madison, they sure are going to have a lot of catching up to do after taking a blow as hard they are taking, and will continue to take as long as these ads are in print.

As a Graphic Design student, I must say I'm shocked. It's sad to imagine that promoting our institution is put in the hands of someone who's qualifications are clearly questionable, and turns it into such a joke.

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