The Art of Convincing People
Thirty Per Cent More Ad Boards On Campus Under Contract
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Five months after new advertising boards started appearing around Concordia’s campus, new details have emerged about the five-year advertising contract that put them there.
When The Link contacted the university in October about new backlit boards being installed in the Hall building, Concordia spokesperson Chris Mota assured students that no new boards were being installed, and that they were simply being shuffled around.
In a briefing prepared for the university Senate meeting on Jan. 21, 2011, acting VP Services Roger Coté contradicted Mota’s earlier position.
“There will be 11 new backlit boards added to the current 32,” wrote Coté. “Oncampus advertising is a source of revenue for the university.”
The 35 per cent increase in backlit boards is only the first element in an explosion of new advertising being implemented.
Seven new digital screens will be installed on-campus, showing a maximum of 16 minutes of external advertising per hour.
Fifteen large banners will be installed on both campuses.
One of those banners, a large Pepsi ad in the EV building by Le Gym, was the scene of a culture jam by überculture late last year.
Thirty motion-activated digital boards, equipped with high-definition video and surround sound, will be installed in the university’s bathrooms. Ads will also be added to Concordia’s shuttle bus fleet.
“I think the whole process was flawed,”
–Erik Chevrier
Concordia Senator
“I think the whole process was flawed,” said Erik Chevrier, a senator representing graduate students who brought up the issue with Coté. “I think it’s problematic that we can’t know how much the contract is worth.
“The university has problems with transparency on all fronts,” said Chevrier. The senator added that the contract reinforced the serious problems with Concordia’s governance exposed by the abrupt firing of President Judith Woodsworth in December.
“We never discuss the financial aspect of contracts and, in fact, we are prohibited from doing so by law unless the supplier agrees,” wrote Cote. “In addition, making this information public could compromise the university’s position in future contract negotiations.”
The consortium of companies Concordia signed the contract with—UB Media, MU Media and Rouge Media—have refused to make the financial details of the contract public.
“I would like them to disclose what students are worth,” said Chevrier. “They aren’t willing to tell us.”
Although advertising will not be accepted in classrooms or instruction areas, Chevrier warned that the new ads could compromise Concordia’s campus.
“They should look at this issue of public space and create more student space than corporate space,” said Chevrier. “It seems like the amount of corporate space on campus just keeps increasing.”
This article originally appeared in Volume 31, Issue 20, published January 25, 2011.
