Oregon State Naked Mole Rats . . . Or, The New OSU Athletics Logo

Because The Barometer already has a sports columnist (or so they tell me) the column I originally wrote to address the new Benny logo won't be published regularly.  While this would normally disappoint me, I probably have greater readership here than in print media.  So here you go.  Let me know what you think.

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With the unveil of the new uniforms, Oregon State University athletics look a little sleeker, a little fiercer, and a lot more styling.  The same, however, cannot be said of the new Benny logo.  I’m sure Kim Possible loves this, but if comments on the University athletics Facebook page are any indication, students don’t. 

Most commenters seem puzzled by the direction the administration has taken the new logo, while others voiced concerns that students’ opinion were not sufficiently solicited—especially since students are expected to wear what looks decidedly un-beaverlike at nationally-televised games. 

Kim Possible Naked Mole Rat

Athletes at least have financial incentives to brandish the new logo; students are being asked to pay for the privilege of looking ridiculous.

Beyond what seems like a pretty major fashion gaffe, students remain concerned that the administration and athletics departments are attempting replace substance with style.  It appears that the new direction is a concerted effort to bolster support and encourage enthusiasm about Beaver athletics.  The concern, however, is that athletics is doing so at the expense of substantive improvements in the athletic program itself. 

Encouraged by U of O’s rebranding in the 1990s, OSU has unsuccessfully tried to rebrand itself, following trends instead of setting them.  Even though nifty uniforms and a rebranded logo are nice, and demonstrate a willingness to consider new strategies and reorient means to accomplish goals, OSU athletics acknowledges that uniforms don’t win games—which is the ultimate recruiting tool.

Despite Nike’s insistence that the new logo doesn’t deviate too far from tradition, one need only look at the friendly Benny that represented Oregon State for over forty years and wasn’t retired until 1999.  That looks like tradition to me.  What’s more, “Angry Benny” was an acknowledged marketing ploy to help shore up support for construction of Reser Stadium.  Bearing that in mind, Nike would have stuck to tradition by returning to something resembling the acknowledged mascot.

1951-1999

I have a sense that the new uniforms aren’t really about students, or even student athletics, however.  The sequestration debate is only the most glaring example of fiscal responsibility at the federal level, but across the nation state spending on institutions of higher learning has been on the decline.  State universities have been hit especially hard and have turned to alternative forms of income. 

Football especially, but collegiate sports in general, attracts incoming freshman and national recognition; the sales of sports apparel help shore up budgets increasingly weakened by fiscal cuts. 

OSU’s billion dollar fundraiser relies on the enthusiasm of donors and a winning athletic program is the most obvious way to generate that enthusiasm.  Certainly, the administration has demonstrated its commitment to academics, and we lead the state in research grants; our nuclear engineering and forestry programs especially are world-renowned.  While these are exciting, they fail to communicate the University’s success the way a winning football team does.

And that excitement is only bolstered by a dynamic new uniform, and a logo that better represents the spirit of the institution.  Which is where the new Benny logo simply falls flat. 

Perhaps it’s a matter of generating false buzz—like Crystal Pepsi, or New Coke these were genuine attempts to reinvigorate flagging sales and create heightened consumer demand.  But in both those instances, the effort backfired. 

Well, sort of. 

In each case, consumer demand for the original product actually boosted sales of original Coke and regular Pepsi.  So maybe that’s the strategy OSU Athletics have adopted in concert with Nike, who designed new Benny. 

Fearing this is the logo I’ll be stuck with next year, I’m planning to hit up the Beaver store in the spring before the old logo is phased out.  And I know many of you are doing the same.  Perhaps they’re expecting sales to skyrocket, after which, buckling under pressure from alumni and students, Student Athletics will release the real Benny redesign.  I don’t want to speculate as to their motives, since this scenario seems particularly Machiavellian, but at least it makes a measure of sense.  The alternative is that the redesigned Benny is meant to look like a cross between a nutria and a naked mole rat.  That, or it’s part of a strategy to re-brand Oregon State University as the Rats.