Compulsory VUWSA flipflops on VUW marketing

Compulsory VUWSA flipflops on VUW marketing

Just two months after criticising Victoria University's marketing expenditure, the compulsory Victoria University Students Association (VUWSA) has collaborated with Victoria University in an advertising campaign, Student Choice spokesman Glenn Peoples said today.

Last week VUWSA in conjunction with Salient and Victoria University's Marketing Group purchased the cover of Auckland student magazine Craccum. The editor of Salient said the $2500 cost of the ad came entirely from the university's marketing budget.

In March VUWSA president Jeremy Greenbrook condemned Victoria University's marketing budget as a waste of money. Greenbrook said students are not influenced by advertising when choosing where to study. Greenbrook said, "research shows that very few students pay any attention to this sort of advertising." Last week Greenbrook said he welcomed the joint marketing effort.

Glenn Peoples said VUWSA's flipflop was probably driven by rivalry between student politicians and showed the association was willing to apply double standards when it suited.

Mr Peoples said this is exactly the type of hypocrisy we've come to expect from compulsory student associations. "Compulsory-funded student politicians oppose tuition fees yet impose their own political fees on students; they oppose the student loan scheme yet derive half their income from money borrowed under the scheme; and they claim to speak on behalf of all students when they know all too well that many students don't agree with associations' policies," Peoples said.

Now we have student politicians opposing institution's marketing and then cooperating with it when it suits them. VUWSA's already- diminished credibility has just suffered another massive hit through this latest about-face, Peoples said.

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