Advertising At CU

Over the last few days, I've been paying particular attention to all the advertising that happens in and around CU, and let me just say there is a lot! Advertising at CU comes in a plethora of different forms, ranging from posters in buses to chalk drawn advertisement's written on the floor outside the UMC. Instead of noting all my findings over the last few days I decided to spend an hour of my day posted outside by the UMC just off the Chemistry quad with visibility of that and the road. Within that hour I would note down all the different advertising that passed my way and use that as a sample to determine the ubiquity of advertising at CU.

During my hour I recorded 7 different types of advertising, a substantial amount considering the amount of space given. The seven different types were:

Chalk Drawings on the floor
Flyers
Stands with representatives from various companies / groups
Clothing with branded logos
Food / Drink Cartons
Sides of RTD buses
Branded paraphernalia

As we browse through the list we only see maybe two items that we would normally consider "advertising" on a daily basis (Sides of buses and flyers). These are two things that we usually associate with advertising. However it would be foolish not to consider the power that the other five items have in terms of grabbing your attention. In the space of the hour that I watched the Chemistry quad I saw approximately 23 people wearing something branded with "Boulder Freeride". Now I'm sure these people were not wearing these t-shirts to act as a walking advertisement but when I returned to my dorm the first thing I did was look up what Boulder Freeride was, and now I'm a member, which shows how branded clothing works as advertising.

As I mentioned before, whilst a lot of advertising at CU may not be the traditional advertising we are used to such as billboards and posters, it is all around us none the less. Everywhere you look someone will be wearing a t-shirt with a logo branded on it or holding a bottle with the CU Buffalo neatly printed on the side. As you walk through the hallways of various buildings, notice boards will be overflowing with flyers for tutors, meal deals or clubs to join and everywhere you walk, you will sooner or later be walking over a chalk advertisement for an acapella group or church meeting. So whilst it may not be some of the obnoxious advertising we are used to, you cannot deny the fact that advertising is EVERYWHERE at CU. Even as I sit writing this in my dorm room I can see on my roommates wall, a sticker for Halfast Subs and The Sink, a lighter and a cup with hungrybuffs.com written on it and at least five different items with CU on them. So what does this say about the ubiquity of advertising? Well to me it says its everywhere and thats the way it will continue to be!