But will they sell ad space on their caps and gowns?

To anyone who cringes at the ever-increasing influence of corporate culture, stop reading now. Taking the concept of grassroots marketing to a whole new level, two high school seniors from New Jersey have announced that they will be the nation's first corporate-sponsored college students. Chris Barrett, 18, and Luke McCabe, 17, both seniors at Haddonfield Memorial High School, have embarked on an ambitious campaign to entice companies to pay for their entire college costs. In exchange for their college costs, Barrett and McCabe hope to "create a grassroots marketing campaign" for their sponsors. Their plans include wearing the clothing and eating the food products of their corporate benefactors, as well as outfitting their dormitories with only sponsored furnishings. The pair said that they wanted to try to do something new -- to take "a totally different approach to the college scene," according to Barrett. To date, approximately 10 to 12 companies have contacted the students expressing interest in a potential sponsorship. Their Web site, http:// www.chrisandluke.com, has already received around 400,000 hits. "We're starting something that started elsewhere," McCabe said, citing the advent of corporate-sponsored weddings, school buildings and the like. Corporations have long been endowing faculty chairs and buildings at universities, including several Wharton professors at Penn. Marketing Professor Barbara Kahn said it's logical for businesses to target college students. "There's a lot of inertia in brand preferences. It matters what brand people choose," she said, adding that by fixing students' buying habits early on, companies can gain lifelong customers. Kahn noted that there is already debate on the ethics of corporate influence in education, specifically in primary schools. Advertisers are branching out now because with all the "advertising clutterS it's hard to get your logo seen." As the college-age demographic becomes more and more valuable, "it seems like [it is becoming] an increasingly targeted market," Kahn said. Barrett and McCabe hope to parlay their newfound fame into a career -- their aspirations include living in California and continuing "in the public eye." They predicted that the unique nature of their idea would make it difficult for others to do the same at this point in time. But they both downplayed any distinctions between themselves and students who choose other means of paying for college. "Our working for [our sponsors] is the same as anyone working [anywhere else]," Barrett said. Added McCabe: "I see in the future that this will be a normal way of doing things.

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