Bakersfield College got a taste of Hollywood this summer when McDonald’s chose the school to be featured in commercials for the 2008 Olympics.
The advertisements feature the pool, Memorial Stadium, weight room, and gym, as well as the softball and baseball fields. Real Olympic athletes were brought in to publicize McDonald’s new chicken sandwiches.
At 4 a.m. on June 11, 2008, the trucks and trailers rolled in with 50 to 60 cars following, and the taping began. Amber Chiang, director of marketing and public relations at BC, said of the preparation, “they walked in ready to go. They had full control.”
The local news announced prior to taping that an Olympics commercial would be taping in town, but did not mention where.
Athletic Secretary Barbie Hobbs explained why the event was not publicized. “It is mainly because they were bringing a large entourage. These people were movie-star status, and they had a very short amount of time.”
BC was chosen as the background for many reasons. The production team liked that the school is close to Los Angeles and they liked the look of our stadium and other athletic facilities. Representatives came the Sunday before taping to take hundreds of pictures and then decided where filming would take place.
Both Chiang and Hobbs agree that we should be proud that our school was chosen for an internationally run commercial.
Chiang said, “What I think is great is how many people have recognized the college without it saying ‘BC’ anywhere.”