Don’t tell me you haven’t seen one of these commercials, or one very similar to it.
A “Typical College Student” (identified by his funky plaid shirt, unkempt hair, and permanent look of stupidity) walks into his dorm room and is greeted by a party of about 47 people. These 47 party-goers are having a grand old time with plenty of space for dancing, all courtesy of Product XYZ. Product XYZ is usually an electronics store or some type of disgusting fast food.
Now, as a “Typical College Student” (minus the shirt, hair, and stupid look), I want to know how I can get myself into one of these parties. Actually, I’m really looking for the dorm that has that much space. I’ve always wanted to be able to park my car in my dorm room instead of in the parking lot outside.
All sarcasm aside, these commercials really bother me. They stereotype college students and make them all look like they haven’t a care in the world. Better yet, they reinforce the image that all college kids do is fritter away their parents’ hard-earned cash on pizza, beer kegs, and the like. If parents are sitting at home, wondering how little Johnny or Susie is doing at Big State University, all they have to do is turn on the television to find out. The TV paints a picture of careless and lazy kids finding any reason they can to throw a party. I find this disgusting.
Unfortunately, these ad ideas must have come from somewhere. I’m sure that a lot of college kids do spend quite a bit of time doing the above activities. However, being an exception to that rule has certainly caused me some problems. First of all, I don’t even live at my school. I live at home and commute. I also have a full time job and 2 internships (one thanks to MyMac.com :-)). I’m a very busy person. I don’t have time to drink, eat, and party away my mom’s money. Maybe that’s because she doesn’t give me any. Yes, what a novel concept- I pay my own expenses.
What’s funny is that even though I don’t even slightly resemble the image of the useless college kid, my mom watches these commercials and gets Ideas. “You don’t know about any wild keg parties at your school, do you, dear?” I wish. “There aren’t any fraternities or sororities at your school, right?” Give me a break!
These images are bringing people my age down. They are contributing to the low-self esteem that people in their late teens and early twenties are already struggling with. They are suggestive, as any good advertisement, TV show, or movie is, and they give us ideas for parties, pranks, and other deconstructive things. What a way to treat the future leaders of our companies and organizations.
It is sad to say, but even Apple is guilty of this. In the new iBook commercial, we are treated to a “Typical College Student” and his rambunctious antics on an overnight flight. I’ll show you who let the dogs out. This commercial makes me even angrier than all the rest. Here is this young guy, with a pristine, wonderful (and pricey) iBook. The key to happiness in life, if you ask me. The said guy uses said iBook to show off a goofy iMovie of his girlfriend (very constructive). To me, this shows adults that we young whippersnappers love to play with expensive toys and use them to annoy other God-fearing citizens. For crying out loud, if I had an iBook, I’d be so deliriously happy. It certainly wouldn’t be my top priority to annoy complete strangers. However, Apple and a lot of other companies seem to think that we college students have nothing better to do with our time.
So, college kids, if you’re reading this, stand up for yourselves. Don’t let the TV tell your parents what you are like. Prove to the older folks that we’ve got potential. Give ’em a run for their money (and I don’t mean run up their credit card).
And for those of you who are watching us college kids grow up, give us a chance. We’ll show you we can do a lot more with our iBooks than you think. 😉
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