<p>Skidmore, the school with the tag line “creative thought matters,” has topped itself: Daughter received two postcards from them this afternoon that left us all scratching our heads.</p>
<p>The first: a snow scene of the campus, but not your typical “here is our quaint beautiful campus under cover of snow” shot. Rather, a shot showing students trudging along icy pathways. Over all in bright red letters the word
NUMB. </p>
<p>Flip the card and it reads:</p>
<p>COLD. STONE. FROZEN.
Your mind is blank. Which is really an excellent starting point. Fill it in. Check out Skidmore.edu</p>
<p>Uh? All daughter could think of was “Cold Stone Creamery” the ice cream store chain (maybe they don’t have them up Skidmore’s way but it is a national chain). All I could think of was “Cold StoneD” as in Skidmore’s reputation in some guidebooks. All son could say was “Who would want to go to a school in such a cold place?”</p>
<p>Second post card is a closeup of a soccer player diving for the ball. You can’t read Skidmore on his shirt. Have no idea where it is. The expression on his face is one of pain. Over all in bright red letters the word: PAIN</p>
<p>Flip the card and it says:</p>
<p>IT HURTS.
The throbbing rolls through your brain like a line of thunder boomers. Who said final exams would make it rain? Check the weahter. Visit Skidmore.edu</p>
<p>None of us understood that one at all. “Sounds like a good school for migraine headaches,” said son.</p>
<p>What does everyone think? I mean, yes, creative thought matters, but shouldn’t it also make some sort of sense? Of course, it did get our attention. :)</p>
<p>Carolyn, wow, I gotta laugh but Guitar Shredder is right on…sure got you to talk about it! but not necessarily (unfortunately) for the right reasons. </p>
<p>By the way, I recently met the guys’ soccer coach at Skidmore. His D takes voice with my D and I had no idea he commutes and lives at Skidmore during the week and lives in VT on weekends. His daughters are both going there. </p>
<p>It is kind of unfortunate the take you got on this school because as you know, I have always felt it might be a good match for your daughter. </p>
<p>I have never heard of Cold Stone Creamery (and wow, “Cold, Stone, Frozen”) or the motto in guidebooks of Cold Stoned for this campus but if that is the case, who is their marketing person???</p>
<p>Also why are they pointing out that it is cold there to some kid in California?? </p>
<p>It is cold but it is basically typical northeastern cold, nothing more extreme than other places or as cold as say, Cornell. It is colder here in my neck of the woods. Anyway, it is a nice school and a nice town and my hubby grew up there and my inlaws live there (they take courses there with the college students!!) and my D’s friend is a freshman there and loves it. Some of these marketing campaigns are quite weird. </p>
<p>I guess they wanted to create a “buzz”…um, no pun intended. </p>
<p>As they used to say on Laugh-In, “veeeddddy interesting”.</p>
<p>I can’t figure out what they are trying to do with that second postcard. Bizarre.</p>
<p>carolyn, I also got a sudden picture in my head of what it would have been like if your family lived near Skidmore. Then you would have been out on the curb, your bathrobe flapping in the cold wind, while you went through your trash . . . in the snow . . . at 5:05 am . . . .
Good thing you’re in CA !</p>
<p>‘Come to Stone Cold Skidmore’ – just don’t work for me. </p>
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<p>And not for my California daughter either! In fact, she’s grown up hearing me tell stories about my OWN college days in the cold of upstate NY every time she puts on a ski parka when it hits 65 degrees here. (“You think THIS is cold? Try my senior year in Syracuse when it hit -30 degrees for five days in a row!”)</p>