Clever marketing techniques cause college Libertarian ranks to swell

On most college campuses, just like in the national political arena, the Libertarian Party (LP) is a bit of an afterthought. The LP’s promotion of an extremely limited government doesn’t appeal to the masses the way “catch-all” parties such as the Republican and Democratic parties do; thus it has been hard for Libertarians to gain enough support to make inroads in American’s two-party system.

Creative marketing has resulted in a strange phenomenon this year at Ball State University.

BSU’s student Libertarian organization has quickly become the most popular political organization on campus, now boasting a higher number of members than the both the school’s student Republican and Democrat organizations.

It all started when Chris Frazier was elected president of Ball State’s college LP at the end of last year by the group’s other four members.

Frazier, a marketing major from South Bend, had a few creative ideas on how to get the word out about the party and attract new members.

“It is well known that Ball State is a party school, and many students come here to partake in the party atmosphere. I had the idea to embrace this image and relate it to our organization,” said Frazier.

At the start of the fall semester, Frazier and company began hanging posters around campus with giant marijuana leaves and the slogan “Libertarians believe drugs should be legalized!” painted on them. The group later began handing out free BSU College Libertarian t-shirts that took stabs at the two major parties. One shirt depicted a businessman smoking a doobie and the slogan “Kind of like the Republicans but a lot more fun”. Another had a cartoon of a smiling woman with a hand full of money and the slogan “All the freedoms, none of taxes”.

In November, the LP began sponsoring monthly keg parties off campus open to anyone interested in the Libertarian Party where they could learn about its platform while having a little fun.

This clever approach created a buzz on campus that resulted in dozens of students joining the Ball State LP, whose ranks now include over 250 members, making it the largest college LP group in the country.

The national Libertarian Party has noticed the success they have enjoyed at Ball State as a result of Frazier’s work. He is taking the fall semester off from school so the party can send him on a tour of college campuses around the country to share his ideas with other college Libertarian groups.

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