Name that school!

By GregoryHeller_admin - Sat., 1/1/05

The attitude of corporate advertisers seems to be that if brute force isn't working, they're probably not using enough of it.

They pound us with incessant ads—not only in the media but also in elevators, on sidewalks, in cabs, at gas pumps—even in urinals! Now they're invading our public schools. All across the country, corporations are weaseling their brand names into young, impressionable minds by buying the "naming rights" to school facilities.

A New Jersey elementary school gym is now named the ShopRite Supermarket Center, a Chicago-area high school football stadium is now Rust-Oleum Field, and the end zone of a high school football field in Plano, Texas, sports the bright shiny logo of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

The National Federation of State High School Associations' marketing director(!) gushes about this corporatization: "It's an unlimited, untapped market, and it is in places companies often can't easily reach." Great. School kids are no longer students but a "market," and our own public officials are inviting them into the schools. Another marketer enthused: "Commercialism is coming to a school near you. The high school cheerleaders will be brought to you by Gatorade, and the football team will be presented by Outback."

At the college level, we note a rare instance of principle trumping money. The University of Michigan and Ohio State have rejected a deal made by their own athletic officials to let telephone giant SBC Communications Inc. change the name of the annual Michigan-Ohio State football clash.

If you think school ought to be for education, not corporations, call Commercial Alert: 503-235-8012.
Filed Under: Corporate responsibility