CASPER, Wyo. — Despite, or perhaps due to, controversy, a University of Wyoming “The World Needs More Cowboys” advertising campaign video won “Best of Show” in the 34th annual Educational Advertising Awards competition, according to a UW news release.
The release states that the “Best of Show” award is given to “the best single-spot television ad among all national higher-education advertising in the past year.”
“The world needs more cowboys,” that advertisement’s narrator says, “and not just the kind that sweep you off your feet and ride you into the sunset.
“Ours are diverse cowboys who come in every sex, shape, color and creed. They come from Wyoming, Montana, Delaware and Nigeria because it’s not what you are that makes you a cowboy or cowgirl, but who you are.”
“The World Needs More Cowboys” slogan has received some criticism. Critics say the cowboy is an outdated symbol that excludes women and minorities.
UW Institutional Communications Director Chad Baldwin said that he thought the criticism misses the intent behind the campaign. He said that the slogan represents values like toughness, grit, determination and curiosity, values he said anyone could share.
“[The cowboy] is our mascot,” Baldwin said. “There are ties to the history of cowboys in Wyoming.”
He added that he believes it is historically inaccurate to imagine all cowboys as white, pointing out that there have been Hispanic, black, American Indian and other non-white cowboys.
Baldwin said that it was exciting for the university to receive the recognition.
“As far as I know, there’s nothing in [the university’s advertising] past that compares with winning an award for the best single-spot ad in the nation,” he said.
UW also received a Silver Award for its overall campaign, according to the news release. Baldwin said UW submitted to the competition alongside more than 2,200 entries from more than 1,000 schools across the country.
UW also received awards from another regional competition, the American Advertising Federation’s American Advertising Awards, according to the news release. Baldwin explained that this competition looks at all advertising, not specifically educational advertising.
UW received “Best of Show” for the video in that competition and a “Gold Addy” for their overall campaign. Winning at the regional Colorado Springs event means UW automatically advances to the next level of that competition, according to the news release.
Baldwin said that while the recognition is nice, it is more important to see how the advertising campaign actually affects things like enrollment and attracting donors. He said that that might not become clear until the university’s Fall 2019 enrollment is completed.
Baldwin said that the university intends to use the “The World Needs More Cowboys” campaign for another three to five years. However, he said the university would likely update the video in the next year.
Baldwin added that the video had received more than 357,000 views on Facebook as of Tuesday, March 5 and more than 115,000 views on YouTube.
