Shaq to visit SU, promote safe drinking
Fifteen-time NBA all-star Shaquille O’Neal will appear at halftime during the men’s basketball game against Fordham University on Saturday to promote ‘The Stupid Drink.’ O’Neal will also be on campus to film a commercial developed by students.
In 2009, a group of Syracuse University students created ‘The Stupid Drink’ in the National Student Advertising Competition. ‘The Stupid Drink’ is an advertising campaign encouraging students to recognize the difference between ‘drinking and drinking too much.’ The students received first place for the idea.
The campaign was funded and launched this year by the Century Council, a group of distillers in Washington, D.C. ‘The Stupid Drink’ posters hang throughout campus.
The Century Council hired O’Neal to put a celebrity face with the campaign. O’Neal will shoot a commercial developed by students as part of the campaign’s one-year test trial at SU, said Ed Russell, associate professor in the S.I. Newhouse school of Public Communications. Russell has been a leader in the campaign since it began.
The Century Council called Russell and proposed bringing in O’Neal, Russell said.
During halftime, O’Neal will be introduced and will tell students why he’s on campus, Russell said.
‘I think the idea of Shaquille O’Neal coming out and saying something about ‘The Stupid Drink’ suddenly gives it more than just a campus feel,’ Russell said. ‘It’s more of a national prominence.’
O’Neal will also be filming a commercial on campus. The commercial idea is a parody of a SportsCenter broadcast, Russell said. It will air on CitrusTV and local stations.
The commercial was chosen from three finalists, said Lauren Silverman, a junior advertising major. Silverman was in one of the three groups.
‘Our professor presented us with a book that the competition team developed a couple years ago that ended up winning,’ Silverman said. ‘We were asked to develop a television commercial that we’d pitch to the class.’
Silverman’s commercial did not win, but she said she sees the positive effect O’Neal can have.
‘His celebrity status is hopefully going to get more people to pay attention to the campaign,’ she said. ‘A lot of people respect him.’
O’Neal’s appearance is one of many promotions the campaign will run this weekend. It also has plans for the football game. The campaign will give out 4,000 T-shirts at Friday’s game against the University of South Florida.
Coasters will be delivered to bars and sororities, Russell said. Students from Newhouse will also be handing out mini-posters with the campaign’s logo, as well as the ‘Symptoms of Stupid.’
Among the symptoms listed are slurred speech, regrettable texting and verbal abuse of a complete stranger.
Though the group will push forward with its advertising, Russell expects the four-time NBA champion to be a lot of fun.
Said Russell: ‘If all goes well, hopefully he’ll give a great big ‘Go Orange!”
Published on November 9, 2011 at 12:00 pm
