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 Joe Biden |
No Free Lunch For Credit Card Companies
Colleges crack down on companies that aggressively target students.
June 26, 2008 — -- Even in college, there's no such thing as a free lunch, as University of Illinois at Chicago student Sydney Maier found out when she learned the free sandwich coupon she received on campus couldn't be used unless she filled out a credit card application.
"I think it's absolutely manipulative," Maier said. "I think it makes the student passive in obtaining a credit card when they could be actively perusing it."
The creative marketing ploy is a way for credit card companies to circumvent college policies that no longer allow them to solicit on campus. Dozens of schools, including the University of Illinois at Chicago, Georgetown University and Ohio State University have banned credit card companies from their grounds.
The new regulations could be a blow to companies that often view universities as fertile ground for cultivating new customers — they can hook students early and instill brand loyalty.
"I have a very strong opinion when universities go out of their way to establish regulations and policies to prevent marketing on campuses, and then credit card companies find specific ways to go around that and still target students," said University of Illinois at Chicago student Brett Thurman.
But now universities and lawmakers are fighting a back against companies that aggressively market to college students.
The state of Ohio has sued a credit card company over a marketing ploy aimed at Ohio State students in which the students were given fliers that said they'd receive a free burrito when they showed their student IDs at a local restaurant. When the students arrived, they had to fill out credit card applications to get their free lunch, similar to Maier's experience in Chicago.
Ohio State Attorney General Marc Dann sued the company for violating the state's consumer protection law by allegedly using deceptive marketing. The state also went after the participating restaurant.
The case against the credit card company has yet to be resolved and is still in state court. The restaurant has settled its claim.
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