I think the ad is really creative, witty, and is probably looking to attract applicants who do NOT want a campus culture/vibe that is like FU.
In my opinion, every college markets itself. HOW they market themselves to their potential customers (aka applicants/students + those students’ parents/guardians) will vary depending on what the message is that they want to relay, what TYPE of student(s) they want to attract, etc.
So for a student who WANTS to hob nob with a different crowd than those who would attend Colorado Mesa U? Guess what? They won’t apply to Colorado Mesa U. Maybe those kids WOULD be happier at an FU type of place.
There’s many flavors of ice cream. Everybody can have their favorite flavor, eat their fill of it, and leave the ice cream shop happy and satisfied. Just because the person at the table next to you at Baskin & Robbins is eating a different flavor than you are doesn’t mean that the other person liking another flavor is dangerous.
Just like somebody wanting to attend Colorado Mesa U vs somewhere else doesn’t mean anything, really. So your next door neighbor’s kid is applying to all of the top 20/top 30 colleges while your kid will be attending an in state university. Big deal. Different flavors of ice cream. Doesn’t mean that one flavor is bad or worse than another.
But is the ad campaign dangerous? No. Not at all.
If one is offended by the ad, then that individual might not be the target audience.