One Little Duck, So Much Trouble

Last weekend here in Eugene, cheers of joy echoed throughout the streets surrounding the campus as the Ducks football team beat Arizona in overtime. This football season is especially thrilling and students are finding new ways to show their devotion. Recently, three seniors published a youtube video titled “I Love My Ducks .” This impressive video caused drama for the athletic department because it showed Puddles the mascot without permission. Puddles the mascot is based on Disney’s Donald Duck character through a special license agreement. This undoubtedly caused the University of Oregon to cringe fearing the wrath of Disney and barred the video from youtube.

This incident makes me wonder what the thought process was for the public relations office. The video’s popularity soared; appearing on SI.com, news channels, the radio and other media. Obviously it positively supported the university, but officials could not overlook the possible legal ramifications of copyright infringement. While some consider the university’s actions extreme, I understand the need to protect the university. This would be a difficult decision to make considering the video’s growing popularity and positive nature— it is essentially free publicity. The administration should have clearly stated why the video could potentially harm the university. As a student, the only piece of news I gathered was that the university barred it from youtube; I learned why they barred the video from other sources.

The administration should show more appreciation for student-run campaigns and encourage more students to show their support for the school. If I was doing public relations for the school, I would encourage student-run campaigns with a video and slogan contest. I would include clear guidelines to exclude copyrighted material. The university could use these advertising campaigns that would cost immense amount of money from an agency for little to no cost. I would suggest a stronger connection between the administration and the students and an opportunity for two-way communication. This way, the students could understand the administrations actions and still have a creative outlet to show their support. Go Ducks!