Across Ontario, outdoor and transit advertising is touting a new pharmaceutical called "Obay." Google it all you like, but so far all you'll find online is this discussion on Yahoo Answers and this photo of a bus shelter ad: "My son used to have his own hopes and aspirations. Now he has mine. Thanks Obay™!" Another ad says, "Are your children starting to think for themselves? Put a stop to it now with Obay™." Some savvy consumers suspect a teaser campaign, and want to know who "the makers of BecauseIToldYouSo™" really are. Some guesses are already surprisingly close...
PostScript: (Feb 21, 2008) Colleges Ontario has now publicly taken credit for the Obay campaign, and has announced a media conference for Monday. Media Release
Comments
OBAY
Most insulting Advertising Campaign Ever.
This Advertising "Think Tank" must have been babysat by Homer Simpson, Family Guy and South Park.
This Advertising "Think Tank" must have been babysat by Homer Si
Huh....You make no sense...
Be Patient!!!
We as a society have some bad ways in how we raise our children & who we expect them to be. We have our goals & aspirations for them, but how many of us truely let our children follow their dreams without our opinion & ideas pressed upon them? Maybe it's time for society to review what we expect from others, and be more supportive of individualism, even from our own children.
Obay
I work for a transit authourity in Ontario. I think I'll have to ask some questions just as to what they are about. I was stopped in my tracks the first I noticed one. At first I thiught I was in the twilight zone.
Seems to me the Obay
Seems to me the Obay campaign focuses nicely on parental pressure -- which our research shows is highest in Toronto and major urban centres, and is felt most by applicants to university. But the strategy, in a nutshell, appears to be: reduce parental opposition to college, and the "drifter" students currently being pushed into attending university will have more PSE choice. Fair enough, but isn't this strategy more likely to attract UNmotivated students to college as a result? It seems to me that an equally important strategy is to attract bright students to college options themselves -- not simply to shift their parents' mindsets. Unfortunately, the Obay campaign does nothing to sell students on college program offerings...
Ken Steele
Senior Vice-President, Education Marketing
ken@academica.ca | 1.866.922.8636 ext. 205
As a recruiter for one of
As a recruiter for one of Canada's largest universities, I agree that the Ontario Colleges campaign does not do an effective job of positively advertising its program offerings. However, as the mother of a soon to be Grade 12 student, it really made me think about my aspirations and philosophy about education in relation to my son's. My son is seriously considering college training and has sound reasons for going to college vs university. They were the same reasons I had when I choose college over university back in the '80s (I began at Teacher's College, then went on to university when the timing was right for me.) My passion of PSE learning (I'm on my second Masters degree in Education) is just that - MY passion! My son's passions are different. He is a very practical kid and right now there is a shortage of college trained workers across the country. He figures with college training, he'll never go hungry! And, it is the most practical road to owning his own business. He's probably right...and it is his life after all.
I was at a presentation by
I was at a presentation by the Colleges Ontario media director and the focus of this ad was specifically parents. They felt this influencer was playing too strong a role in keeping students from considering colleges.
I couldn't make sense of it.
I couldn't make sense of it. I had no idea it was an ad for post-secondary studies for community college. Ad after new ad was on bus routes I would be travelling I would see it and just get frustrated because it seemed so criptic. Without question if the advertisers did not leave it to such guest work for the consumers part, I don't think this ad campaign would have failed so miserably in trying to get people interested in community college studies. Next time folks do what all educators have been staying since the beginning of time, please just K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid).
Susan
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