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Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n March 25, 2013<\/span><\/em> \u00a0| \u00a0<\/p>\n Like this article?<\/p>\n Join our email list:<\/p>\n The beer-soaked blur of spring break is a rite of passage, and at least since the 1980s, when MTV dropped in on the party, it\u2019s been corporate America\u2019s bootylicious wet dream .<\/strong> With the potent mix of inebriated young people and cultural pressure to have the most off-the-chain experience, there\u2019s big money to be made and beaucoup merchandise to be moved. And if the kids aren\u2019t careful, a financial headache worse than the hangover will follow them home.<\/p>\n 1. Scam season:<\/strong> There are as many scams engineered to rip off spring breakers and their families as there are beaches in sunny Florida .<\/strong> Popular frauds include the \u201cgrandparent scam,\u201d where grandpa gets a call from someone saying that young Johnnie has landed in a Mexican jail and needs bail money wired immediately. Also ubiquitous are fly-by-night operations that offer the trip of a lifetime<\/a>, and then split with the money. Various hidden cost hustles get students to pay a low rate for a hotel room but upon arrival they find that various fees like \u201cseason rate\u201d charges and gratuities have been tacked on. Students who post their whereabouts on Twitter and Facebook may also wake to find that burglars have been assiduously following social media.<\/p>\n 2. The big swipe:<\/strong> Credit card companies encourage students to rack up charges during spring break, advertising their wares with pictures of attractive tanned bodies lounging under palm trees. When they aren\u2019t conjuring fantasy, they\u2019re marketing products with \u201csafety first\u201d admonitions that cards are ever so much less dangerous than carrying cash. Until the bill comes, of course. Forbes<\/em> magazine offers a handy list of the \u201c Best Credit Cards For Spring Break Road Trips<\/a>,\u201d which praises the Discover More Card for its APR teaser and a transfer fee of 3 percent. Chase is applauded for offering rebates for big spenders, while Bank of America lets students link the card to savings or checking account so they \u201ccan top off the tank and load up on snacks.\u201d Not to mention debt.\u00a0<\/p>\n 3. Predator\u2019s paradise:<\/strong> Of all the shady characters who have enriched themselves at the expense of spring breakers, Joe Francis, the founder of the “Girls Gone Wild” empire, deserves top billing in the Slimeball Hall of Fame. Francis discovered that exploiting and humiliating young women in sleazy videos was the road to riches, and set about haunting spring break locales and luring barely legal (and sometimes not) women into baring their breasts and performing suggestive acts. Francis has battled the courts over consent issues, and recently filed for bankruptcy, noting in the disclosure<\/a> that his company, like American Airlines and General Motors, just needed a little restructuring. Greed, apparently, conquers all.<\/p>\n 4. Billion-dollar party:<\/strong> Hotels, cruises, jam-packed restaurants, spray-tanning sessions, all-inclusives and rivers of booze. Between Florida and Texas alone, college students blow an estimated $1 billion<\/a> on spring break. The travel industry estimates that over than 1.5 million students<\/a> take part in the annual bacchanalia. That\u2019s a boatload lot of wallets, and plenty of ways to empty them.<\/p>\n 5. Marketing mayhem:<\/strong> The marketing frenzy<\/a> surrounding the spring break has achieved scientific precision, deftly adjusting to evolving trends. This year, savvy marketing departments are pushing computer-related items, video games, movies and TV shows, along with a mind-blowing cornucopia of other youth-oriented consumer products. The site Boozinggear.com<\/a> purveys must-have accoutrements such as the \u201cDouble Down Beer Bong\u201d and the \u201cBouncing Boobs Red Can Cooler Set.\u201d The app industry intensifies the party experience with everything from Beach TV, which streams the party in Panama City Beach, to Happy Hour Finder, which guides you to the nearest tiki bar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The financial headache is worse than the hangover.<\/p>\n Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n March 25, 2013<\/span><\/em> | <\/p>\n Like this article?<\/p>\n Join our email list:<\/p>\n The beer-soaked blur of spring break is a rite of passage, and at least since the 1980s, when MTV dropped in on the party, it’s been corporate America’s bootylicious wet dream .<\/strong> With the potent mix of inebriated young people and cultural pressure to have the most off-the-chain experience, there’s big money to be made and beaucoup merchandise to be moved. And if the kids aren’t careful, a financial headache worse than the hangover will follow them home.<\/p>\n 1. Scam season:<\/strong> There are as many scams engineered to rip off spring breakers and their families as there are beaches in sunny Florida .<\/strong> Popular frauds include the “grandparent scam,” where grandpa gets a call from someone saying that young Johnnie has landed in a Mexican jail and needs bail money wired immediately. Also ubiquitous are fly-by-night operations that offer the trip of a lifetime<\/a>, and then split with the money. Various hidden cost hustles get students to pay a low rate for a hotel room but upon arrival they find that various fees like “season rate” charges and gratuities have been tacked on. Students who post their whereabouts on Twitter and Facebook may also wake to find that burglars have been assiduously following social media.<\/p>\n 2. The big swipe:<\/strong> Credit card companies encourage students to rack up charges during spring break, advertising their wares with pictures of attractive tanned bodies lounging under palm trees. When they aren’t conjuring fantasy, they’re marketing products with “safety first” admonitions that cards are ever so much less dangerous than carrying cash. Until the bill comes, of course. Forbes<\/em> magazine offers a handy list of the “ Best Credit Cards For Spring Break Road Trips<\/a>,” which praises the Discover More Card for its APR teaser and a transfer fee of 3 percent. Chase is applauded for offering rebates for big spenders, while Bank of America lets students link the card to savings or checking account so they “can top off the tank and load up on snacks.” Not to mention debt. <\/p>\n 3. Predator’s paradise:<\/strong> Of all the shady characters who have enriched themselves at the expense of spring breakers, Joe Francis, the founder of the “Girls Gone Wild” empire, deserves top billing in the Slimeball Hall of Fame. Francis discovered that exploiting and humiliating young women in sleazy videos was the road to riches, and set about haunting spring break locales and luring barely legal (and sometimes not) women into baring their breasts and performing suggestive acts. Francis has battled the courts over consent issues, and recently filed for bankruptcy, noting in the disclosure<\/a> that his company, like American Airlines and General Motors, just needed a little restructuring. Greed, apparently, conquers all.<\/p>\n 4. Billion-dollar party:<\/strong> Hotels, cruises, jam-packed restaurants, spray-tanning sessions, all-inclusives and rivers of booze. Between Florida and Texas alone, college students blow an estimated $1 billion<\/a> on spring break. The travel industry estimates that over than 1.5 million students<\/a> take part in the annual bacchanalia. That’s a boatload lot of wallets, and plenty of ways to empty them.<\/p>\n 5. Marketing mayhem:<\/strong> The marketing frenzy<\/a> surrounding the spring break has achieved scientific precision, deftly adjusting to evolving trends. This year, savvy marketing departments are pushing computer-related items, video games, movies and TV shows, along with a mind-blowing cornucopia of other youth-oriented consumer products. The site Boozinggear.com<\/a> purveys must-have accoutrements such as the “Double Down Beer Bong” and the “Bouncing Boobs Red Can Cooler Set.” The app industry intensifies the party experience with everything from Beach TV, which streams the party in Panama City Beach, to Happy Hour Finder, which guides you to the nearest tiki bar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nStay up to date with the latest headlines via email.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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