Over here at the Tax Prof Blog, Paul Caron reposts a funny-at-first picture of IU Maurer Dean Austen Parrish’s head imposed on an Austin Powers-like figure complete with era-appropriate background lettering. Paul Caron captioned the post: “Best Law School Dean Photo, Ever: Indiana’s Austen Parrish.”
At first I thought, “Oh, looks like Dean Parrish is a guy who knows that marketing can be fun. Well done.” But then I looked at the words in the background, including “Sexy” and “Cheeky Shag.” In the #MeToo and #TimesUp era, does IU Maurer really want to promote its dean (and school) with words like “Sexy” and “Cheeky Shag”?
Maybe I’m just a humorless feminist, but I’m going to call this one a marketing mistake. The best move for IU Maurer would be to take the post down, or change the background words.
Words matter. Please, marketing team, get as much feedback as you can before posting. Someone at IU Maurer certainly should have caught this. No shade on the school … I admire IU Maurer and its faculty very much. But the school (and all of us) can do better.
