Living dead lend their brains to car rentals

232

Living dead lend their brains to car rentals

By: Cici Nye

Residents of Provo may have been spared from the Rapture, but there’s no way to avoid the impending zombie apocalypse.

About 200 students and community members donned tattered clothing and gathered south of campus on Thursday for a commercial shoot promoting BYU’s car sharing program.

“There’s been some flames, a lot of zombies and a complete absence of blood because we haven’t yet feasted on flesh,” said zombie Jeremy Warner, a recent BYU graduate from Blackfoot, Idaho, about the shoot. “It’s been great to kick back, relax, wear some tattered clothing and chase my friends around. The expectations of zombies are low, so they’re easy to exceed.”

Directed by the Harold B. Lee’s Multimedia Production unit, the same group behind last summer’s viral “New Spice” YouTube short, the zombie commercial serves as the team’s summer project. During the fall and winter semesters, the crew is busy filming lecture series, presentations and creating media for the exhibitions in the library.

Carolyn Lake, a senior from Visalia, Calif., double-majoring in political science and anthropology, was excited to collaborate with the Multimedia Production Unit.

“They’re really just the best”, she said. “The team is so fun, super professional and they always do a great job.”

The BYU Car Share program kicked off at the beginning of Fall 2010 and has already seen a lot of use. Currently the fleet consists of two Mazda3s and two Ford Escapes which can be reserved online. The vehicles have dedicated parking spaces at the Botany Pond south of campus, outside of the Wilkinson Student Center, the parking lot next to the Cannon Center and outside of Wyview’s Central building.

“You really don’t have to own a car to have a car,” Lake said.  “With the Connect car rental program by Hertz, you have access to a car really anytime you need.”

Brian Marks, strategic sourcing manager in the BYU Purchasing and Travel office, said he’s excited about the program.

“There are a lot of students without cars and we want to make this resource available to them,” Marks said. “It’s a service the university wanted to provide.”

Interested patrons can register for the program for free at connectbyhertz.com. Hertz runs a background check on students’ driving records and sends an access card once everything clears. Rentals are $8-$9 per hour and include the cost of gas for up to 180 miles per day, insurance coverage for the driver and 24-hour roadside assistance.

Warner had a few recommendations in the event a zombie apocalypse became a reality.

“Make sure you have a 72-hour kit and half a tank of gas,” Warner said. “Just follow the council of what your ward emergency preparedness list says to do. You might want to add bullets and sharp objects to protect yourself against the living dead. A sharpened baseball bat to deflect their bodies would be the most ideal.”

Interested mortals can expect to see the commercial this fall.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email