Greek101.com didn't want to be associated with hazing, bad behavior

By ABIGAIL KLINGBEIL
THE JOURNAL NEWS - WHITE PLAINS, NY
A Gannett Suburban New York Newspaper
May 16, 2003

YONKERS
Greek101.com, a company that makes T-shirts, sweat pants and other gear for college fraternities and sororities, says it was surprised to find MTV focused on the unseemly side of Greek life in its reality shows Sorority Life and Fraternity Life, whose cast of characters often wear clothing supplied by the company.

Brett Radmin, one of Greek101.com's co-founders, says his company expected MTV to show all aspects of Greek life, including community service. Instead, the shows have focused on hazing, underage drinking and other untoward behavior, including a break-in at the Buffalo Zoo.

Greek101.com says it has cut its ties with the show, and is trying to get the word out to its fraternity and sorority clients, their colleges and the media.

"We no longer will provide our apparel to the shows' participants, and at our request, MTV removed our name from the shows' credits," Greek101.com says in a statement recently posted on its Web site. Greek101.com does business with about 800 colleges.

"Basically, the problem is people see our logo, they see hazing. They think we're involved in supporting hazing," Radmin says. "We're trying to get the record straight."

Greek101.com's situation shows the potential risks a company faces when it gets involved with an unknown entity, such as a reality television show that hasn't yet aired, says Ben Machtiger, manager partner of the Manhattan office of Prophet, a brand strategy consulting firm.

Brands, Machtiger says, are affected by the company they keep. "When considering opportunities like this, you're weighing the allure of being known versus the risk of being known for something you don't want to be associated with," says Machtiger, a Bronxville resident.

Greek101.com started its association with the shows at the end of 2001, when it heard that one of its customers, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi, a sorority at University of California at Davis, was going to be part of a new MTV reality show. Greek101.com sent the sorority shirts with the sorority's name and Greek101.com's name. It sent similar packages to the houses involved in the other seasons.

In the statement on its Web site, Greek101.com says that before it got involved with shows, it "conducted our due diligence on the scope and nature of the shows and were assured that, although they were unscripted and spontaneous reality shows, they would most certainly seek to highlight the wholesome, philanthropic activities for which the Greek system is well known."

Teen-oriented MTV is not generally known for the wholesome nature of its shows. The long-running reality show Real World frequently shows its cast members engaging in binge drinking and casual sex.

Asked about the situation with Greek101.com, MTV spokeswoman Eileen Quast would say only: "We don't have a formal agreement with Greek101."

Radmin says prior to the first season, Greek101.com employees spoke with the show's creator and original producer, Sergio Meyers, and with the sorority's new member educator. Radmin says Greek101.com felt comfortable being associated with the show because the sorority emphasized its philanthropy projects and had a high academic record.

"Hindsight's 20/20, and we're willing to admit we made an error in judgment," Radmin says. "It just seemed like a perfect, logical fit."

Members of UC Davis' Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi, the first sorority featured on Sorority Life, also felt let down by MTV.

"They failed to show the rest of the nation the community service that we do, the sincere sisterhood that we truly have (and) the scholarship," the sorority's former president, identified only as Becca, said in an article published in October in the college newspaper, the California Aggie. "I guess it could be expected, being MTV, but the show that was aired was drastically different than the show that was pitched to us."

Greek101.com says it was disappointed with the first season of Sorority Life, which aired last summer, and shared its feelings with MTV. The company says it felt assured the second season of Sorority Life and MTV's new Fraternity Life would be more favorable, so it continued to send out the free gear.

"After the second or third episode, I immediately realized this was going in a direction that was contrary to our company," Radmin says.

The company says it urged MTV to remove the Greek101.com logo from the remaining episodes, but was told it would be extremely expensive for MTV to remove, alter or block the name. Greek101.com says it cannot afford to pay for MTV to make the changes. So, Greek101.com decided to wage its own awareness campaign.

Machtiger says consumers are sophisticated about product placement in television shows, a growing trend. He says if they are turned off by the show, they may be turned off by the products in the show.

"Managing a brand is not just about immediate business impact. You're counting on this asset to deliver value to you over time," Machtiger says. "Therefore, there is a need to convey what you stand for on an ongoing basis and in this case to do some course correction to clarify that position."

Greek101.com, which traces its roots to 1992, but has been based in Yonkers since 1997, has an obvious interest in supporting a positive portrayal of Greek life. In every one of its glossy catalogs, it lists famous Greeks, such as Cindy Crawford (Pi Beta Phi), Condoleeza Rice (Alpha Chi Omega) and Martin Luther King Jr. (Alpha Phi Alpha). The three men who run Greek101.com - Radmin, 33, Jeff, 34 and Jim, 32 - were all in fraternities.

Radmin says today's Scarsdale High School student soon might be deciding whether to rush a sorority. Her parents will be less likely to support her decision to join a sorority or send her a check to buy a sweatshirt with her Greek letters if they watch underage sorority members doing shots of alcohol or being hazed on MTV.

Many sorority and fraternity members nationwide have panned the shows, saying they only show the downside of Greek life.

"I think they're horrible," says Aaron Virola, 21, a senior at Iona College in New Rochelle. "I think they have just really a negative and disgusting outlook and portrayal of Greeks in college campuses," says Virola, a member of newly formed Iona chapter of Lambda Theta Phi, a predominantly Latino national fraternity.

Virola says the shows glorify negative behavior, especially involving drinking. He knows just how detrimental such behavior can be. Kevin Lawless, a friend who lived across the hall from Virola his freshman year, died at age 18 in December 1999 after a night of heavy partying while pledging a banned fraternity. Autopsy reports showed Lawless died from a combination of alcohol and a heart defect.

Virola says his fraternity rituals do not include drinking alcohol. He says being a member of a fraternity has helped him organize his time better, and has served as a way for him to get involved in community service. Through his fraternity, Virola has helped with clothing drives and volunteered at a soup kitchen. "You have to earn your letters," he says.

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