We’ve all been there: It’s a weird hour of the night, you’re alone, and shame-watching the encore presentation of Women’s Beach Volleyball. When suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a familiar sight graces your screen. The campus… the grass… the lawns… generic, multi-ethnic college students ostensibly hard at work… could it be? Stock Footage University?

Er, St. Joseph’s University, we mean. Over the ten-plus days of Olympics broadcasts thus far, St. Joe’s has, repeatedly, aired a variety of 30-second spots advertising its storied campus. While this is not unfamiliar territory for institutions of higher learning — some are only now beginning to shake the memory of Lockhaven’s amazingly mundane jingle — there’s just something…off about the ads. Is it the guy in the gym with the thousand-yard-stare? The voiceover, equal parts preachy and inspirational? (And, okay, kind of soothing.) Is it the general feeling that the ad has little to do with the actual St. Joe’s [Ed. note: Joey Sweeney, class of '95, wooooo! THE HAWK WILL NEVER DIE!], widely known for academic and athletic successes as well as its “vibrant” campus community? You tell us.

Do you believe in magis?

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 9th, 2012 at 1:37 pm.