‘Spartacups’ Sales Continue to Rise
Caitlin DoyleTragedy often encourages others to try and prevent such an accident from happening again. Lauren Hill was diagnosed with brain cancer, but wanted to achieve her dream of being a collegiate basketball player. Hill partnered with For the Cure to fund cancer research as well. Unfortunately, she lost her battle to brain cancer. This year’s case studies class is working with The Cure Starts Now Foundation in her memory to help fund more research and expand awareness for brain cancer.
The case studies class is selling travel mugs and koozies to raise the money. They have been selling the products since the beginning of the semester and will continue to sell until the end of the year. The travel mugs are being sold for $15 and the koozies sell for $2.
Initially, buyers could choose between silver or gold travel mugs, but silver has since sold out. Similarly, the koozies originally came in two varieties-one with the MU logo printed on the side, and one with a quote the professor Tim Ogden: “Be safe and make good decisions!” The quote koozie has also sold out.
According to Amanda Fedorcak, one of the students involved in the class, “Since Keurigs and coffee on-the-go have become popular, travel mugs made sense. The entire class voted and these two items were the most popular. The marketing department also did some market research, and these products were received well.” Coffee is a staple for many students. The class thought that these products would therefore be greatly valued and sell fairly well. This has been true so far as many students, faculty and staff have already bought them and more are being sold. Fedorcak likes both of the products herself and thinks that the rest of campus might agree. Emily Oldaker, an education major, bought one of the travel mugs. “I like the size and weight of it.” Oldaker said holding up the travel mug. “It is perfect for showing off I go to Manchester without being over the top.” The koozies also can be seen around Manchester, the most popular of which are those with Professor Ogden’s quote.
If you bring your travel mug or koozie to the Academic Center on Friday mornings, you can receive some free coffee. The class developed this idea in order to further promote the product. “Ogden's case studies class is full of business students,” Shereen Antony said, “There are marketers, sales, accountants... we learn to come together and use our skills to create a successful business.” The way the course is set up is to simulate an actual business so all majors are able to learn something new about their field. Antony wrote a press release about the Spartacups on Feb. 18. In it she talked about Hill and the goal of Spartacups. “Spartacups involves more than 50 students who are looking for a W on her behalf,” Antony wrote. “Spartacups’ mission is to be remembered as an organized, fair, efficient and hardworking organization as we work toward a common goal to generate the maximum amount of profit in honor of Lauren Hill. To achieve this mission, Spartacups has a goal to place our products in the hands of every member of the Manchester and surrounding communities.”