Syracuse University graduates Jason Fisher and Adam Ward have driven more in the past summer than an average person does in a year.

Boston, St. Louis, Omaha, Neb., Los Angeles, Nashville, Tenn., and Washington, D.C. – Fisher and Ward hit those cities and more on their cross-country road trip as Gillette ambassadors working the ‘Ultimate Summer Job.’

‘We don’t even feel tired,’ Fisher said.

When work is going to a Yankee game or attending music festival Lollapalooza, the two said there isnít a reason for it to be exhausting.

As Gillette ambassadors, Fisher and Ward spent the summer clean-shaven, using and promoting the new Fusion ProGlide Power Razor. Through a blog and Twitter account, the two have used posts, videos and pictures to share their experiences, including an appearance on the ‘Today’ show, meeting Major League Baseball pitcher Pedro Martinez and celebrating July Fourth in New Orleans.

Fisher graduated from SU in 2006 with a degree in broadcast journalism, and Ward graduated in 2004 with a degree in psychology. The two knew each other through mutual friends during their time at SU, and both found themselves in Los Angeles pursing acting and film after graduation.

When Fisher heard about the opportunity to enter the video contest for the chance to become Gillette’s summer ambassadors, he said he immediately thought of Ward and the two had 24 hours to meet the entry deadline. After going through a finalist phase, the two were awarded $50,000 and began traveling in the Gillette Summer Job van from June through August.

Ward said he has never blogged or Tweeted as much as he has over the summer. The two received a day of training when they arrived at Gillette is World Shaving Headquarters in Boston.

Ward said he remembered walking into the training session asking, ‘What’s Foursquare?’ but soon he was using the location tracking system, which relays a person is location when one checks in online.

Fisher and Ward finished making appearances in Boston the week of Aug. 9, but plan to continue updating their blog until Labor Day weekend.

SU professor Roosevelt ‘Rick’ Wright, who taught Fisher when Fisher was a Newhouse undergraduate, said it is no surprise the alums have teamed up.

‘I run into SU alums all over the place,’ Wright said. He said it is not uncommon for current and former students in all schools on campus to go to each other for support.

Wright said Fisher was an ‘incredible’ young student with a strong focus on what he wanted to accomplish.

‘He’s just scratching the surface,’ Wright said.

Both Fisher and Ward have been involved with performing and communications for sometime. But working for Gillette has meant being in the spotlight as themselves.

‘We always imagined getting back to performing, even as ourselves,’ said Ward, who did acting and modeling as a child.

Neither said they had planned to pursue jobs as brand spokesmen, but welcomed any opportunity to use what they knew in terms of communications and performance. Fisher said he hopes the opportunity will help open doors for working in video and communications.

‘Being in film and writing and acting, it’s really hard to plan,’ Fisher said. ‘We’ve just got to roll with the punches.’

dkmcbrid@syr.edu

 

Published on August 24, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Dara: dkmcbrid@syr.edu | @daramcbride