How do you get newly minted adults hooked on your service for life? If you’re Amazon, the secret is to provide them with everything that they need at a discount, and deliver it as quickly as possible. The combination of discounted Prime service and easy on-campus pickup is meant to hook college students on Prime during their formative years, and it’s turning out to be very effective. [More]
college students
College Student Claims iPhone Caught Fire In Pocket During Class
By 10.4.16
As ways to get out of class go, this is an impressive one: a college student in New Jersey says that he was just sitting in class, not charging or even using his iPhone 6 Plus, when the device overheated and caught his pants on fire. Maybe all of the news about exploding Samsung products has caused iPhones to feel a little bit left out. [More]
Amazon Has Already Opened Its First Offline Store, Sort Of
By 2.4.15
Yesterday’s exciting retail news was that Amazon may take part in the bidding for some of the stores that formed the desiccated husk of RadioShack, vastly expanding its offline retail network of…zero permanent stores. Yet that’s not true: the fuss over the possible stores overshadowed the actual store that Amazon opened earlier this year, which is on the campus of Purdue University in Indiana. [More]
This Frigidaire Mini Fridge Has A Mini Lifespan
By 12.14.11
Living far from home in a dorm, Damian took advantage of a Black Friday sale at Best Buy to purchase a tiny refrigerator that could hold the necessities of life. (Insert joke about what you thought the “necessities of life” were when you were in college here.) The Frigidaire appliance didn’t last long, though. It’s already dead after less than a month. And while Best Buy would be happy to take the fridge back, he doesn’t have a truck and can’t take it back to the store it came from. What can he do? [More]
The World's Smallest Walmart Opens On A College Campus
By 1.20.11
America, please welcome the world’s smallest Walmart. It opened last week on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville. Of course, the concept of “small” is relative when it comes to Walmarts: the new store is about 3,500 square feet of retail space, and replaces the former campus health center pharmacy. [More]
Chegg Wants Your Textbooks Back Before Finals, Or They'll Charge Full Purchase Price
By 12.10.10
Is your college’s semester a little longer than most? If you use the textbook rental service Chegg.com: that’s too bad. They need your books back now. Shawn reports that even though he needs his textbook until December 23rd, Chegg claims that they need it back by the 20th, or they’re going to charge him full price, even if he gets an extension. Is that company policy? Well…. no. [More]
State Farm Uses Mutilated Monkeys To Sell Insurance To College Kids
By 12.10.10
State Farm didn’t win too many people over with its Worst Ad In America-nominated spokesman, so now the company is trying a very different approach by courting college students with mutilated monkey keychains. [More]
Sorority Sisters Suffer Ironic Laundry Detergent Injuries
By 5.2.09
A fraternity fundraiser for the D.C. Firefighter’s Burn Association at George Washington University included a super-fun Slip ‘n’ Slide lubricated with laundry detergent. Detergent isn’t supposed to be slathered all over the body, though, and can lead to severe skin irritation and chemical…um….burns.
