CJC Students Making an Impact on Super Bowl 2020
The organizers of Super Bowl LIV are determined to leave a positive environmental impact when the event arrives in Miami in February. So the host committee teamed up with Fox Sports University (FSU) and the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) to generate ideas for a promotional campaign for its environmental initiative “Ocean to Everglades.”
On April 12 in Gainesville, Florida, three teams of UFCJC students presented to representatives from FSU, FOX Sports, the Super Bowl 2020 committee, and the Ocean Conservancy who judged proposals developed as part of an FSU annual competition. Each team was led by a master’s student and were formed as part of the College’s Creative Advertising Competitions class, which participates in the competition every year.
While students had the opportunity to research any sustainability needs specific to Miami, they all chose to pitch ideas around water. They were inspired by the initiative name, “Oceans to Everglades.” Ideas included showcasing the safety of municipal tap water, making tap water socially relevant, and demonstrating the consequences of single-use plastics.
Over the next year, elements of the students’ ideas will be incorporated into the 2020 Super Bowl. Mike Zimmer, president of the Super Bowl host committee, said “I think it was an unbelievable project, and kudos to Fox for doing this. It really engages a couple components: the host committee and the Super Bowl piece, but it also takes a real learning experience to the students. So we’re going to take some of these ideas that we learned from FOX and from FOX University folks, and we’re going to implement those into the Super Bowl. And to me, that’s a very unique experience.”
FOX Sports University gives students the opportunity to create solutions to a marketing, research, technology or strategy challenge related to the company. UFCJC was the first school to host a FOX Sports University competition over a decade ago, and it has now spread to more than 40 colleges across the country. Erik Arneson, vice president of Media Relations for FOX Sports, said “Florida, being our first ever FOX Sports University program, always delivers really creative and consistently above the bar materials…There’s some that I look forward to signing up to and being a part of, and Florida is definitely one of them because everything they do is above the bar and professional level.”
The Creative Advertising Competitions class, taught by Advertising Department Interim Chair and Associate Professor Robyn Goodman, immerses students in a variety of student advertising competitions, including FOX Sports University. Students interested in taking this class can take it as an elective or as a culminating experience option for the persuasive messaging track of the advertising major.
Posted: June 3, 2019
Category: College News
