Dreams seem to be a significant aspect of "The College Issue," which is the title of the latest New York Times Magazine (30 Sep 07). The dream of college is the issue exclusively dealt with in this issue, including the strategically designed ads.
One full-page color ad shows a fair young lass, her brown hair in frizzy curls and strands around her head, her glossed, thick pink lips open in a sweet smile that features her perfect white teeth. Her face takes up the top right quarter of the page. To her left are the words "Hofstra University“ (trademark registered). A baby blue parallelogram (the same color as the trim on her white sweater) juts from the lower left to the right, just below her chin. It contains text. In large, lower case, white letters, the headline reads: "your dreams, your goals, your university.“ In much smaller black print: "Whatever the dream, Hofstra University can help you get there. Located just 25 miles from New York City, Hofstra offers a world of opportunity that will help you reach your goals. Intern at one of the nation’s top companies. Learn from an outstanding faculty. Explore our extensive academic resources. Experience our state-of-the-art teaching facilities. Choose from 140 undergraduate programs. And meet other students with dreams as big as yours.“ New paragraph: „Turn you dream into reality at Hofstra.“
Hm. The plural dreams at the beginning of the ad become one singular dream at ad’s end. Is this about focus?
Another full-page ad features mostly white, empty space. To the right is the figure of a young Asian-looking woman. She seems to have been caught at the apex of a leap, her legs spread out, her white-slipper-clad right toe gracefully yet exhuberalntly reaching the middle of the page. She is clad in grey pants and a fuschia top over which is a whitish jacket. Her arms are bent at the elbow, her fists clenched (in victory?) Her hair is a halo of dark curls also caught in mid-flgiht. Her face is one large smile, her eyes just dark slits, her white teeth shining. She is the size of half the page. To her left, there is a large arrow pointing to her and this sans-serif, black text: "I have big dreams. I want to get involved and get ahead. New York City is my campus.“ In larger, orange font: "Baruch College is my Springboard.“ At the bottom, the website address and the college’s logo.
So, big dreams need springboards. (And Springolator shoes, too, if not Pradas!)
But where are the men in these ads? Do young lads not have such collegial dreams? Or is the promise of such sweet-faced (and bodied) dreamboat lasses intended to entice young fellows to attend these fine institutions of higher learning? What are the dreams these ads allude to? Whose dreams are they, anyway?