This Over-The-Top Sorority Recruitment Video Could Have Cost $400,000 To Make
College is all about yachts. And rooftop pool parties and photo shoots with pineapples and butt cheek-baring cutoff jorts and a brief appearance by an adorable yellow lab. Wait, no. College is about gaining independence in an educationally satisfying environment, where you can forge meaningful social and professional relationships and maybe have a brief appearance by an adorable yellow lab.
The new University of Miami Delta Gamma sorority recruitment video, which trended on Facebook this weekend, would have you believe that yacht thing. There are sunsets and surfs and tiny bikinis, reminding the rest of the world that it's winter and feminism is relevant. No where between shots of sisters diving off of docks into gorgeous ocean waves and shots of sisters diving off of sailboats into gorgeous ocean waves is there any mention of the sorority's philanthropy (like their own foundation, Service For Sight) or notable alum (like the incomparable Julia Louis-Dreyfus) or academic achievements.
Plus, college is expensive enough without the yachts. Elle asked a New York advertising agency just how much it costs to create a recruitment vid that looks like a Mariah Carey music video updated with ideas from Pinterest.
"We believe it was shot on a moving rig and one of the newer drones (not a helicopter). The combination of three days at least, a good camera (because of the slo-mo), rented boats (speedboat and sailboat), possibly a rented beach, a rented hotel, and post production, could come to $400K. But even if all the locations were donated (dads' boats, et cetera), we're looking at $200K," Elle reports.
So there you have it. DGs, that's what your dues are going to: a $400,000 glorified recruitment video. But you get the last laugh, 'cause the world is watching. Touché.