Sunday, November 30, 2008

Commercial Colleges


When watching TV it makes sense that many products that have commercials seem more credible. When you are at a store and you see a brand of juice that was recommended on a commercial, it seems more reliable than one you have never heard of before. However, it seems the opposite for colleges, universities and perhaps schools in general. Maybe it is just me, but I trust colleges that have commercials far less than those who don't. I have never seen a commercial for Harvard, McMaster, University of Guelph, Western, or Queens. However, many times, especially on "Peach tree TV", I see commercials for these crazy colleges that have people convincing me to go back to school. It is because of these commercials that I do not take the school at all seriously. Perhaps it is because I am not the demographic they are trying to reach, or maybe its because of the air conditioning school that boasted "get chyou a cooool job" that just ruined it for all of them. I found it to be an interesting paradox that when it comes to important choices sometimes advertising just doesn't cut it at all.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I completely agree. These institutions also cater to society's "instant gratification" mentality in that the quicker you can get/achieve something, the better, because we live in such a fast-paced world. They advertise faster, more convenient education and it'd difficult as consumers to remember that "if it sounds too good to be true...it probably isn't."

Anonymous said...

Anonymous RYN: Don't you think that if the insitutions weren't properly accredited, their ads would be pulled or the school would be shut down? They must have some validity.

Anonymous said...

My mother went to CDI college, it is a tv advertised college, her program was a year long, after that she got paid like 50% more right out of school, in a job she liked a lot more. So these colleges are valid, and work.