Penn State fans, students embrace Beaver Stadium’s viral marketing phenomenon

Before the “White Out,” Beaver Stadium was a mausoleum. It was 60-year-old mid-staters, wondering about postgame traffic.

The losing had something to do with it. Penn State posted losing records four of the five seasons leading up to 2005. The losing brought ennui and, suddenly, Beaver Stadium was the third largest city in Pennsylvania on game days, more like Altoona North.

Four years ago, the Nittany Lions gained steam and found themselves in a night-game showdown against Ohio State, on prime time TV.

There was Paternoville, the tent village of students and pizza boxes outside of Beaver Stadium. There was a lively stadium. There's was Zombie Nation's “Kernkraft 400.” There was orchestration and choreography in the student section.

And a lot of people wore white.

“It really belongs to the fans,” said Greg Myford, PSU's associate athletics director for business relations and communications. “I think that's why it works. The grass roots legs that this has shows how rooted it is in the fans. That's why it shows up so prevalently via viral marketing.”

The “White Out” unofficially started in 2005. Tonight's game between the No. 5 Lions (3-0) and Iowa Hawkeyes (3-0) is only the third time the school officially has called for it.

“White Out” doesn't happen every year. It seems to be reserved for prime-time night games, when the white-clad 110,000 light up the State College night like a firefly.

Guido D'Elia, Penn State's director of communications and branding for football, came up with the “White Out” brainchild. The idea was tried in 2004 against Purdue, but fizzled. It literally rocked the house against Ohio State in 2005.

Suddenly, the 60-year-old mid-staters and the student section were as tight as a Broadway dance line.

“The intention really grew out of how can we bring our fans one step closer to the game, one step closer to feeling like part of the team,” Myford said. “It's no secret that Penn State wears the basic whites from head to toe, so how do we take the uniform on the field and translate it to the uniform in the stands?

“It really wasn't any more complex than that.”

For a taste of what the Hawkeyes are in for tonight, click on YouTube and search “Penn State white out.” There are 368 videos. If you Google “Penn State white out,” 2.4 million links come up.

“To be home and to have a crowd, as an enthusiastic crowd that we have here and to have them as loud as they have been, it's been an advantage for us,” Penn State Coach Joe Paterno said. “It's something about it, that whole business about the ‘White Out.' It's a bringing together of the whole institution, not only the undergraduate kids. You see people up there. There will be old men. They may even be 60.”

But it's the student section that drives this.

Several student organizations put something together. There's the Lion Ambassadors and the Penn State Alumni Association. There's the Penn State Student Section Organization, a Facebook group that claims 5,746 members. This group is calling for students to carry white signs behind ESPN's “College GameDay” set, which is famous for its college signs. So far, 3,000 fans have answered the invite.

After last week's Temple game, students handed out fliers to remind fans to wear the white for tonight's game.

“It's the impact that's not contrived that's the most valuable,” Myford said. “That's really where this whole phenomenon is. As a Penn State fan and alumnus myself, that's really where I hope it stays.”

This is such a tightly wound outfit that in the middle of all the white, the PSU student section pulls off a block “S” with blue T-shirts surrounding it. Not one person can screw this up.

“To their credit, that's all student run, student driven,” Myford said. “That's the Lion Ambassadors (a student subset of the alumni association). They figure out who's wearing what shirt and sitting in what seat and I'll be darned if it doesn't come out to be a pretty good looking “S” every week.”

Out of the gate, Penn State athletics announced this, but there was very little expense along with that. In the second year of “White Out,” PSU printed it on the ticket for the 2007 Notre Dame game. That's been the only real expense for Penn State.

It's not a marketing campaign. No one from the PSU marketing department is handing out T-shirts at the gate. Fans and students own the “White Out.”

And maybe even opposing players and coaches. Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz sounded way into it this week.

“In honor of the ‘White Out,' we're going to wear white jerseys and the coaches are going to wear white shirts,” Ferentz said. “We want to be part of it.”

Of course, Iowa will be in its road whites. It has to be. The above statement might've contained just a hint of sarcasm.