Rutgers to debut 120,000, 30-second promo ad

Jessica Perry//August 27, 2014

A screenshot from the Rutgers ad.

A screenshot from the Rutgers ad.

Jessica Perry//August 27, 2014

Watch: Rutgers will premiere a sleek and stylish promotional ad Thursday night on Fox Sports 1 when the football team faces Washington State in its first game as a member of the Big Ten.

The 30-second spot, which all schools get to show when their teams appear on television, was produced by New Brunswick-based Message & Media.

The school spent $120,000 for the ad, which is dubbed “Revolutionary.”

In many ways, the ad will serve as the school’s introduction to viewers around the country, especially in areas that have the Big Ten Network – potentially 100 million viewers this year, a school spokesman told NJ.com.

Using the deep voice of actor (and RU graduate) Avery Brooks, the ad touches on a lot of points Midwesterners may not be aware of: Rutgers was founded before the Revolutionary War and the school is the birthplace of college football.

Rutgers also chose to address one of the biggest issues the school faces outside of the region: Just where exactly it is located

Near the end of the ad, it not only shows an outline of the state with the word New Jersey and the block scarlet “R” indicating the campus is in Central Jersey, it also shows where New York City and Philadelphia are located – perhaps just in case the state’s unique shape isn’t immediately recognizable.