In 2009, one of the world’s foremost Universities, Yale in the United States, decided that it was high-time they replaced their decade-old student recruitment video, which had become stale and outdated. According to Andrew Johnson, a Yale graduate now working in the admissions office and the creator of “That’s Why I Chose Yale"; 

“Students in the previous video were rollerblading around campus, others were wearing baggy shirts and high-waisted jean shorts. The fashion sense of the people in the video was noticeably different, distractingly different. What’s more, three of the people interviewed in the video had died and some of the professors had left the university.”

“In creating the video, we hoped to showcase the energy and community on campus in a novel way,” said Johnson. “We decided on a musical because we felt it would be entertaining enough to keep people’s interest, while also showcasing the vast reserve of willing undergraduate talent on campus.”

But Johnson’s videos was met with a mixture of derision and acclaim. And the 17-minute continues to divide opinion - either people love it, or they hate it.

It’s definitely attention-grabbing and will undoubtedly go some way to eroding Yale’s perhaps undeserved stuffy image, but there’s a very fine between self-deprecating tongue-in-cheek satire and silliness, which isn’t always easy to get right. Take a look at the video and see what you think.