ASU football recruiting riffs on Drake’s ‘Views From The 6’ album cover
Apr 27, 2016, 9:29 PM
The smallest, silliest thing can make a difference when it comes to recruiting college football players.
Relating to 17- and 18-year-olds has its many forms, but there’s no doubt a program like Arizona State can benefit by showing recruits the Sun Devils are hip to pop culture.
Now, that’s not saying Todd Graham goes home and bumps Drake while he’s on the treadmill. But yeah, staying up to date plays a key part in the whole recruiting deal, especially when it comes to grabbing players’ attention.
One example: ASU’s recruiting Twitter account, @RisingSunDevils, pulled a clever trick out of the hat Wednesday by Photoshopping a Drake reference into a computer-generated image of a renovated Sun Devil Stadium.
#VIEWS — from the new Sun Devil Stadium 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ytdOIPFgFf
— ASU FB Recruiting (@RisingSunDevils) April 28, 2016
Complete with an oversized, perched Graham sitting on the press box of Sun Devil Stadium, the image also includes your standard parental advisory sticker.
Don’t get the reference?
A few days back, rapper Drake posted what looks like an album cover for his “Views From The 6” album that’s set to drop Friday. The cover includes an oversized Drake sitting atop Toronto’s CN Tower and caused some hubbub online after fans wondered if the rapper actually hung his legs off the roof for a picture (turns out it’s a clear Photoshop job).
To the city I love and the people in it…Thank you for everything #VIEWS pic.twitter.com/HEXHNwrWwd
— Drizzy (@Drake) April 25, 2016
Anyway, it’s clever stuff from the ASU coaching staff.
It’s possible they should credit the idea to quarterback Manny Wilkins, who hours earlier posted his own “Views” album cover complete with a mini-Drake​ sitting atop the Territorial Cup.
Had to…. Territorial Cup VIEWS. Férina Forever . pic.twitter.com/NGu34jnPf8
— Manny Wilkins Jr. (@Manny_Wilkins5) April 28, 2016
So what’s the lesson here?
Twitter is an experimental, free marketing tool. In this instance, it just might force a chuckle from a favorite 5-star target that hasn’t considered yet considered heading to Tempe.
