Campus Candy captures students' attention

“Who wants to go to Kirkwood? Let’s go! What about you guys, what are you doing? Don’t cross the street!”

Junior David Block stood outside Foster Quad shouting at freshmen to board a Bloomington Shuttle – to take them to-and-from the Campus Candy store downtown.

Block, along with juniors Jon Stein and Matt Strombelline, works as a marketing team for Campus Candy, which opened in March. To bring in new students during Welcome Week, the boys rode the shuttle around campus promoting the store and giving students free rides from 4 to 9 p.m. The shuttle will also run Friday and Saturday.

“We make stops at each dorm, we made a stop at CultureFest,” Stein said. “We’re just doing Northwest today. We’ll do the other neighborhoods the other nights.”

At the Foster stop, Stein approached two freshman girls. After chatting to them for a minute or so, one girl shrugged and looked at her friend. They both entered the shuttle.

“I’m obsessed with candy,” freshman Megan Kasler said, then pointed to her friend. “I told her yesterday that we have to go.”

A couple of minutes later, the marketers had almost decided to give up and move on to the next stop when three more freshmen agreed to join.

“Hey, I’m Drew, what’s your name?” said freshman Drew Phillips while walking up the stairs of the shuttle. “Where do you guys live? I’m in McNutt.”

The next stop happened to be his dorm.

“I should get my whole floor to come,” Phillips said. “My whole floor would have listened to me. I’m president of my floor. They all hang out in my dorm every night.”

At the quad, Block and Stein resumed their role – yelling at passing students to catch their attention.

Block stopped one girl in front of the shuttle’s door, trying to convince her to join. Inside the shuttle, Phillips laughed.

“David is mackin’,” he said.

After two stops, it was time to head back to the store.

Conversation flowed between the freshmen and marketing team, jumping from topics such as TOMS shoes and “Jersey Shore.” The shuttle neared Kirkwood Avenue, and Block began to inform the passengers about Campus Candy.

“When you get yogurt, the whole store is your topping,” he said.

“I’m sold,” Phillips said. “So this is more like campus orgasm than Campus Candy?”

The shuttle pulled up to the front of the store, and everyone went inside.

“I think it’s awesome,” Phillips said. “I plan on coming back when I have the munchies.”