Walking on campus can sometimes feel like taking a stroll through a mall. Advertisements catch the eye from hundreds of feet away and circus-like tents sprawl along the walkways. That wasn¡t what I envisioned when I enrolled here.

I remember looking in brochures ¢ seeing pictures of spanning green fields and historic stone buildings. I didn¡t notice the inflatable obtrusions peeking out from beside the campanile.

Not this month¡s Playboy girls of the Big 12 issue, I¡m talking about a huge air-filled automobile.

There it was a few weeks ago, with its neighboring eyesore ¢ the 20-foot-tall ice tea can. The kicker was an ominous fiery red ram¡s head between the two. No, Satan hasn¡t officially moved to Ames. It¡s worse ¢ we were graced with the Road Scholar College Tour.

According to theautochannel.com, Chrysler Group will help college students become more informed even when outside the classroom ™ In addition to the opportunity to drive Chrysler Group cars and trucks, the Road Scholar College tour provides students with information on road rage, drinking and driving, safe driving tips, what to package for road trips, and what to do in case of an accident.Œ

The setup looked pretty scholarly, too ¢ I thought the rodeo bull ride was an effective reminder of the dangers of road rage. I went through the temporary campus carnival, searching for my driving tips and finally found them ¢ at the back of a table, overwhelmed by PT Cruiser promotions.

I¡m not going to get into the argument of why this is inexcusable on the university¡s part. But people should really think more about what they are promoting by participating in the hype. Just because something looks like it might be entertaining, students go into a giant web of useless advertising and let corporations and the university get away with calling it an awareness campaign.

Just to the north of the Road Scholar College Tour, GSB was holding a free grill with the Iowa Pork Producers Association. They announced the purpose out front ¢ to meet your government.

The freeŒ food was great ¢ I ate as much as I wanted. Why not? I paid for it with my tuition. I had no reservations taking a free magnet with numbers to harass them because I knew why the tent was there.

There is a difference between taking a free sample of something or getting a meal sponsored by an advertiser and allowing the university to hold an inflatable ad campaign in front of the Memorial Union. Free stuff is freaking awesome, but huge advertising campaigns poorly disguised as chances to learn demean our intelligence.

It is the argument many punk fans have used against the corporately-sponsored Vans Warped Tour,Πand I see a lot of merit in it. Though there is a lot of good music, the tour is just bloating corporate America like, well, an inflatable advertisement.

I¡ll end my rant with a story.

There is a Simpsons Halloween episode in which giant, living 50-foot advertisements terrorize Springfield, nearly destroying everything. Once the Springfielders realize the advertisements lose their power when people stop looking at them, the town is saved.Jeff Mitchell

is a senior in journalism

and mass communication from Urbandale. He is the arts and entertainment

editor of the Daily.