Alumni and Friends of VMI:
VMI Commercial: According to the following
article, it appears we'll be seeing VMI on TV in a different
venue.
Face value: VMI in razor ad / School says TV spot
offers positive look at its male cadets
Friday, July 31, 1998
BY REX BOWMAN
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
LEXINGTON -- Once vilified for their reluctance to admit females
into their ranks, cadets at the Virginia Military Institute now
are being given a chance to go on national television and, well,
shave face.
Norelco, the company that gave us the classic Christmasy
commercial of Santa sledding on an electric razor, is filming an
ad for its latest product at VMI.
Male cadets are the stars of the 45-second spot because of VMI's
hard-won reputation for honesty, said Gail Zeltman, executive
producer of the New York production company on campus to film the
$300,000 commercial.
If VMI cadets say Norelco's new Advantage wet-shave razor gives a
clean, close shave, it must be true, Zeltman said.
"These guys are honest," she said.
Camera crews have been at VMI since Wednesday shooting scenes: a
U.S. Marine Corps ROTC instructor handing out the electric razors
to a group of cadets and ordering the cadets to test them; cadets
disassembling their rifles and the razors; cadets worrying if
their shaves will pass inspection; and cadets comparing shaves.
The commercial is chock full of scenes conveying the rigorous VMI
atmosphere and the highly circumscribed life of cadets.
The idea, Zeltman said, is to re-
create a 21-day trial of the razor that 50 cadets participated in
this year in which they moved from initial skepticism about the
merits of an electric razor to outright endorsement.
Regina Washington, account director of the production company,
DMB&B, said a research firm gave each of the cadets an
unlabeled Advantage razor -- the Norelco name was not on it --
and came back three weeks later to find out whether the students
liked it.
Not knowing that their answer would lead to a television
commercial, the VMI cadets gave the razor a thumbs-up, Washington
said. The four cadets who star in the commercial are receiving
almost $500 a day for their work, while the many extras get $75.
Filming is to last through today.
None of VMI's female cadets is in the commercial.
Other military schools, including The Citadel in South Carolina,
were asked to take part in the market research, Washington said,
but only VMI agreed.
"We liked the idea of VMI the most," Zeltman said.
"We liked the tradition, the prestige. We thought everybody
would recognize the name."
"Military cadets really represent the highest standard of
men who want a close shave," Washington said. "And we
wanted people who were tough and opinionated and strong-minded --
people who feel strongly about a close shave."
The commercial, tentatively scheduled to air Aug. 31, includes a
re-creation of VMI's "breakout," in which freshmen
"rats" clamber to the top of a muddy hill, and
concludes with a portrayal of the school's annual ball, the Ring
Dance. In the commercial, VMI cadets who used the Advantage razor
receive the oohs and aahs and adulation of their dates, played by
young Rockbridge County women.
VMI spokesman Mike Strickler said the school agreed to
participate in the market research and commercial because it saw
an opportunity to show the nation that VMI male cadets are not
narrow-minded women-haters, but "are just regular college
students who happen to have chosen to go to a military
school."
"I just looked at it as something good, as something that
might be interesting for VMI," Strickler said. "You've
got incredible national exposure. If everything goes right, you
couldn't buy that kind of time. It's a very positive thing."
The New Women Entering VMI:
Friday, July 24, 1998
35 women enrolled in institute's second coed class
Banished cadet to return to VMI this fall
Angelica Garza was suspended last year for slugging the sergeant
of the
guard.
By MATT CHITTUM
THE ROANOKE TIMES
Among the 35 women who will take on the rigors
of the Virginia Military Institute this fall is Angelica Garza,
the woman who left VMI's first coed class early last year for
slugging the sergeant of the guard.
Garza said at the time of her one-year
suspension that she would take another crack at the ratline this
fall.
"She's good to her word. I'll give her
that," said VMI spokesman Mike Strickler. "I'm sure
there were people that kind of raised their eyebrows and said
they'd heard that before, and, "We'll believe it when we see
it.'"
Garza, from Lorton, created the first and most
surprising stir of VMI's maiden year of coeducation when she
struck the upperclassman. She was suspended Sept. 20, just three
weeks after she arrived.
During her second week at VMI, Garza was being
harangued by a second-classman, or junior, sources at VMI said at
the time. Cadets call this practice -- yelling at freshman rats
and ordering them to do push-ups -- "flaming."
Garza apparently acted disrespectfully to the
upperclassman, who decided to escort her to the guard room to
report her. Before they got inside, Garza took a swing at the
cadet, who ducked, leaving the sergeant of the guard to take the
pop in the head.
Garza and her family could not be reached for
comment.
Strickler said Garza is showing the kind of
"determination and perseverance" that VMI looks for in
its cadets, but he acknowledged the second time around may be
harder than the first for Garza.
In the ratline, freshman "rats"
learn to avoid drawing attention to themselves, lest they become
the object of more harassment from upperclassmen.
Unfortunately for Garza, her reputation
precedes her.
"She will not have a low profile,"
Strickler acknowledged. How the cadets treat her is going to be
"interesting," he said. "I really don't know how
they'll react. There might be some that will single her out. ...
Certainly they will know who she is."
Garza will be joined by 34 other women in the
second coed class to enter VMI.
The women include 14 Virginians, mostly from
Northern Virginia and the Richmond and Tidewater areas, Strickler
said. None are from the Roanoke Valley.
Four are from California, with others coming
from as far away as Kenya, Taiwan and Romania.
All but one of the 22 women who completed the
ratline last year will be returning, Strickler said. One has been
suspended for a semester for having too many demerits. They'll
have the opportunity to inflict some sanctioned abuse on Garza,
their former classmate.
But Strickler is hopeful for Garza.
"I think she'll make it," he said.
Gen Bunting's Book: A couple months ago I
mentioned that Gen Bunting had written a new book (An Education
For Our Time). It's apparently been published as I understand
that Gen Bunting has been on some radio shows promoting the book.
Also, USA Today contained a review of his book on August 6 on
page 6D. The last sentence of the review reads, "It's truly
an idealistic book that could either provide a thorough roadmap
of inspiration for educators or prompt them to run, terrified,
into the hills."
I've read the book and it is excellent. At least one non-VMI
friend has also read it and he said he was "mesmerized"
by it. It's a great read. I heartily recommend it to all.
In Search of Info: Bill Jennings '82 e-mails
that he is considering a position in the Charlotte, NC area.
Since he knows very little about that area, he's asking for any
alumni in that area to e-mail him so he can contact them for
information on the city and surrounding areas. If you have
related information, please e-mail Bill at:
vmi82@CentralVA.net.
Thanks.
In Search of Some Other Info: Someone recently
contacted me and wanted to know if I know of any good attorneys
who are knowledgeable about the military. I confessed that I do
not. If anyone knows of an attorney who fits this bill, please
let me know and I'll pass along the info.
Where's The Beef?: I have been informed that The
Beef will not be a part of this year's Cadet newspaper. From what
I understand, reactions over this have been mixed. Oh well.
That's it for this week. Gotta go read my recently received
Alumni Review.
Yours in the Spirit,
RB Lane '75
Last Updated: October 11, 2009
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