Rant Like Rick

By the time you read this post, Memorial University of Newfoundland will have probably already launched their "Rant Like Rick" recruitment campaign (it officially launches at 1 pm today). The "Like Rick" part of the name refers, of course, to our own Rick Mercer and his always spot-on rants. MUN's campaign includes a contest encouraging students across Canada to send in their own videotaped rants. The prize is a voucher for two free semesters at MUN. But if you're a SOTA (Student Older Than Average), don't bother. MUN's press release says that the contest is open to "students who are currently enrolled in high school and who will have graduated and be eligible to attend Memorial University in September 2007". Ads for the campaign will play on television, movie theatres and the advertising medium of choice for youth: YouTube. This is something pretty different for MUN and they admit it.

It seems that everyone is trying to advertise in different ways these days. I'm all for it unless it is something stupid like the electronic devices placed around Boston yesterday that caused pandemonium in the city. Highways were closed as bomb squads, police and fire departments worked to find and even explode what they called "suspicious devices"—made up of wires, a circuit board and batteries—from areas such as bridges. Turns out they were for a publicity campaign for a new cartoon and the devices would have shown up in the dark as an angry cartoon character giving passersby the finger. Uh oh. Someone at Turner Broadcasting, owner of the Cartoon Network which will show the new series, is in a heap of trouble today.

I don't think MUN's advertising campaign will cause mass panic in our streets but I think it is an idea that will probably get a lot of attention and plenty of submissions, if for no other reason than Rick Mercer's name is attached to it and who doesn't love Rick? What do you think of the new campaign?

*Update: Here is MUN's ad (with Mark O'Brien) as seen on YouTube .