Are the anti-greek ads starting early this year or is it me???
 

Maybe its a coincidence but the past couple of weeks i have seen a lot of anti-fraternity ads. Like the papa johns pizza commericial where the parents go in and all the house furnature is made from pizza boxes and the parents look worried and concerend. The snapple ad, a cell phone company ad where the kid calls his mom from the "frat party" as it says to say hes at the library studying(wouldn't they hear the loud music???), and in the background you can see a kid funneling...a big risk management no no. Then when i got home from class yesterday i saw an ad on TV for ray romano saying something like, "Ya this place is like a frat house, bottles laying everywhere, things broken, and everywhere people are puking." Then on the news the other day the local tv station said they were going to do a program on what your child can get involved in at college and the binge drinking problem in American Universities. Just wondering if you guys have noticed the same. Well gotta get to work to pay off the friendship fund!
haha....later guys.

Just to play devil's advocate here....

Welp comedy on TV just reflects stereotypes in society. That's what's funny to most people.

It just sucks when it's a stereotype directed at you.

Try watching friends sometime... you get dumb blondes, stupid italians, stereotypical jokes about women, men, if you pay attention to pretty much ANY sitcom it's like that.

Why should ads be any different?

It's not the advertising company's fault that there are still boneheads out there that *DO* commit risk reduction violations (hell I'd be willing to bet money that a MAJORITY of fraternities violate something in their risk reduction every time they have a party!).

The fault lies within our own community and especially with the morons that perpetuate these stereotypes.

LHT
Kevin

I don't know about your fraternity house, but guys in our house do party a lot. It's not a sterotype, its the real thing. We are in college, no other time in our lifes will we be able to be this free and careless. College kids in general have this stereotype. I don't get mad when I hear these stereotypes because the majority of our members do binge drink. If you didn't like the stereotypes then you shouldn't have joined...

I agree. We'll never get rid of the stereotype; it's just something we, unfortunately, have to live with. I'm not saying I like it, but there is a grain of truth in it--a lot of Greeks do party (and so do the rest of college students in general). I don't like it that people automatically think that since I'm from Kentucky I have a fourth-grade education and don't wear shoes, but that's the stereotype a lot of people have--but I do like showing them that they were wrong in thinking that!

Exactly :)

I don't see any problem with the Papa John's ad. What college kid *doesn't* eat pizza and have boxes lying around all over?

SAE: I don't think anyone gets upset b/c we do actually go out and have great parties and such and that part of Greek Life is portrayed. I think the idea of all Greeks #1 priority is to party being portrayed is the issue. Not all members binge drink, so accepting the sterotype is a little easier said than done, that may be how it is at your school, but not all over the country.

The fact is just b/c we cannot do much about sterotypes doesn't mean we shouldn't try anyway!

UNFSigmaChi: I agree it seems to be everywhere, not to mention I feel like EVERY DAY there is anthor chapter in the papers or another member in the papers that have gotten themselves hurt...or hurting others...even animals this month!

Im not really offended by people saying they think Fraternities drink and party, it is when they state that only Fraternities do it or that college people wouldnt unless they were in a fraternity. thats when it bothers me. I also dont think it is right to ad stereotypes to the public b/c in most cases it is the "norm". We had parties but not constantly or binge like.

To tell you the truth, I don't like the stereotypes. That's why I didn't go greek until the opportunity arose to be part of a colony which is now the Mu Tau chapter of Sigma Nu.

I won't lie, we party a lot. Hell, your damned right about that! We have great parties.

But we don't exist solely for partying, it's not even very high on the agenda (and if it is, perhaps you should reevaluate your being a college student).

Those of us that join should join for the right reasons, higher ideals, the ideals our founders intended for our organization to represent.

Brotherhood, good character, unity, academics, life long-friendships -- that's why we go Greek.

If that's not why you went Greek then I hope you've seen the light since then. That's usually what your candidacy/new member/pledge period is for -- showing you the true meaning of your organization.

If you joined BECAUSE of the stereotypes I'd be willing to say that's when you shouldn't have joined.

If you try to live those stereotypes you are doing a disservice not only to your fraternity but to the greek system as a whole.

LHT
Kevin

YES, stereotypes exist for everything
YES, Greeks seem to get a bad wrap in media
YES, if you joined for the Stereotypes you prolly won't make a verry good brother (or sister)


Don't forget though
that

YES, 45 of the worlds top 50 corps are run by Greeks
YES, all but 2 presidents (since the founding of KA) have been Greeks
YES, 40 out of the last 49 supreme court justices have been Greeks
and YES almost every college campus is run by Greeks.

so it doesn't matter what they say, we'll just keep on bein' who we are. The leaders of tommorow. And so what if we party once in a while, we deserve it. I mean after all YES, we do raise over $7,000,000.00 in charity a year.

Greek stereotypes
 

Wow, I never knew so many important people were Greek. Which just goes to show, you shouldn't care what GDI's have to say about us, we're in it because we love it. You have to admit the "Everybody Loves Raymond" joke was funny...and true! The Greek system seems unreal (who throws those kind of parties, and has weirder rituals than us?), it's a good time, and hey, don't you perk up a bit when you see a reference to being Greek? I personally think the stereotypes are funny...when I came home from initiation, I limped into my apartment and sat down on the couch as my worried roomates looked on. They believed while I was pledging that I was being hazed, no matter what I told them, so that day when they asked me what was wrong, I grabbed my hip and whispered to them that I had been branded on my hip in the shape of an arrow. They so bought it. I told them the truth a minute later, but I had a good laugh. Also, my sisters and I get a kick when people ask us if we have "naked pillow fights." We just smile and say, "Of course not. We have naked tickle fights, instead."

I agree with ROWDYsister.

Sometimes I think we look waaayyyyy too deep into this.

What I think, IMHO, is far more important to worry about, is the stereotyping of females, teens/young adults, and minorities.

Achtung Baby,

"I agree. We'll never get rid of the stereotype; it's just something we, unfortunately, have to live with"....this is only true because you let it be.

Ugh...this thread makes me sick almost. I totally understand that we party, I did in college, but is that what we're wanting to use to recruit with? I'm pretty sure it's not in most cases.

Sure, we can't change all sterotypes in one night. But consider what KT Snake said....regard your ritual. Use your ritual in your daily life as a Greek. You represent your entire Greek organization (however many thousands of you there are...alumni, collegiate, national officers, and more) every time you wear your letters. Think about your ritual in your daily life. Prove your ritual to your founders.

Party, but do it responsibly. I know I sound old....but I'm not, just learned what works and what doesn't.

Yes, so just imagine how many of the people who come up with
this advertising is Greek!