From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Guess, the apparel brand, collaborated with SunLife Organics, the juice and smoothie bar, to give out free smoothies and tote bags to students at the farmers market on McCarthy Quad.
Chloe Do, a sophomore studying chemistry, was in line waiting to get the patches she chose ironed onto her new tote bag. Do said she came mostly for the free smoothie, but feels that the Guess brand is “very recognizable” and appeals to students on campus.
“A lot of college students, even if they’re not interested, they’re going to want to line up because it’s a big name,” Do said.
According to Ivy Tam, the director of public relations at Guess, the USC farmer’s market is just the first stop on its Guess Campus Tour. Tam said the brand has plans to stop at other college campuses in Arizona, Texas, Miami and will visit UCLA for their final event.
While the brand’s main goal for the campus tour is to promote the release of its newest bag, the Allegra, Tam said that Guess seems to be having a “resurgence.”
“A lot of younger generations maybe have heard of it but they don’t know what products they sell,” Tam said, “So I think it’s good to have some branding here and activation.”
The partnership with SunLife Organics also played a pivotal role in the event’s success. According to the SunLife Instagram, the free mango smoothies included coconut sorbet, electrolyte powder, blue spirulina, coconut cream, almond milk and pineapple juice.
“We wanted to really just support local vendors, especially [since] SunLife here on campus…with every location we try to tie it with one of the local vendors to support,” Tam said.
Tonantzi Gonzalez, a senior studying business administration with an emphasis in marketing, said she was most excited about customizing the free tote bag and was actually unaware that it was a collaboration with SunLife Organics.
“Wait, that’s the smoothie they have here? I’m here for Guess. I didn’t know it was SunLife, but I’ve had SunLife once and it’s pretty good,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez and her friend, Christine Cardenas, a senior who studies psychology, were walking out of their class and decided to stop by the event.
Gonzalez and Cardenas were among the first couple of people who lined up for the event. Behind them, the line stretched down the street towards the Leavey Library.
Cardenas, like her friend, was excited for the free tote bag because she didn’t attend previous brand promotional events, such as the Owala pop-up on Sept. 9 that was held on campus.
“I feel like in my freshman year, they had a lot of USC events and I didn’t see any more, so I thought it would be nice to see again,” Cardenas said.
Edited by Leo Li and Fashion Castillo