Come On Down!

By Nina M. Riccio

What does it take to get Bob Barker and the production staff of The Price is Right to notice you? If you're Jeffrey Michaud '07, you're in Los Angeles for just a few weeks, and you've wanted to be on the show since you were five, you don't leave your chances to luck.

"I watched the type of people they choose, and they're all outgoing and enthusiastic," says Michaud, who clearly has no problem with either of those attributes. "It's a very interactive show with a lot of audience participation, but the people up on stage have to carry it off. Obviously, they don't want anyone up there who's not going to be able to have fun." On the day of the show, Michaud showed up wearing a custom-made "Fairfield University loves Bob" T-shirt and turned on the charm for the producers, who were giving audience members 15- second interviews. "I answered their questions, and just as they turned to leave, I let them know that I was involved with the Ham channel here on campus, and that I had been a TV host." That stretched the interview to just 30 seconds, "but I could tell it went well," he says.

It turns out he was right. When the show began and four names were called, his was one of them. "The screaming, the hugging, the enthusiasm, it's just unbelievable," says Michaud. "Everyone is there for their 15 minutes of fame!"

Michaud walked away with a prize - a pool table - but that's not all he got out of the show. A communication major in the College of Arts & Sciences, Michaud has been particularly interested in consumer behavior and product placement, topics he's studied under Drs. David Gudelunas and Robbin Crabtree. "The Price is Right is all about product placement, guised in the artifice of the game," he says. "For 30 years, it's put a shift on the traditional way of thinking about advertising. You're watching the show thinking about how the contestants will do; you're not thinking about the products, but they're right in front of you."

It's a safe bet to assume that some of Michaud's observations from the show will appear in the honors thesis he's writing on product placement. "TiVo and video digital recording are challenging the existence of the traditional 30-second ad spot, now that people can fast-forward through commercials," he says. "The technology has forced manufacturers to find different routes to bring their products to viewers' attention. There are episodes of Survivor or The Apprentice where the whole show revolves around branding. There are ethical questions to be answered here, too. For instance, do you disclose who has paid for the show?"

In the summer before his junior year, Michaud had one of his best outside-the-classroom learning experiences, when he landed a coveted internship with the MasterCard Priceless campaign. His essay and video clip were good enough to beat out 42,000 other college applicants for one of 12 spots. Their mission: to design a grassroots marketing campaign for a little-known band. That internship introduced him to California, and he grew to love its open and creative atmosphere.

Michaud returned to Los Angeles last summer to do an internship with Universal Music, a position that allowed him to work behind-the-scenes in the entertainment industry. "My job involved working with our extensive music library, helping the creative directors of movies, TV shows, and commercials find the music they need for a scene. It's the work these people do that can really make or break a scene." The internship cemented Michaud's desire to work in the entertainment industry. "This internship was a synthesis of all I enjoy - music, T.V., and film. I know I want to work in the industry in some capacity," says the Connecticut native.

Dr. Crabtree, chair of the Department of Communication, has no doubt that Michaud will succeed in whatever he does. "He's totally engaged in learning and always prepared for class, yet there's an ease with which he approaches his work. Everything he does is A-quality," she says, recalling the Argument and Advocacy class she taught in which he gave a speech on the global AIDS crisis. "It was the best I've heard in 24 years of teaching. He got everyone else in the class to care because of the emotion with which he approached the subject. It's the kind of moment a teacher lives for."