But Phoenix isn't a real university, right?

Compared to 10 years ago? Probably. But, distance learning doesn’t have the stigma attached to it that it used to. (I guess. I never saw a resume with it on there.) Getting a major athlete like Larry Fitzgerald though does lend it a little more cred than it otherwise might have. While it’s not a reach to have jocks endorse a school vs. a Stephen Hawking, and the stadium his home team Phoenix Cardinals plays for is named after the Phoenix University, does that make it a legit school though? (It has actual brick and mortar locations.) As an easy way to take a few extra credits or odd course or two, sure.

But it doesn’t really matter what you think—perspective employers are the ones who have the final say when they look down and don’t see what they perceive to be decent school. This spot though is a nice extension of the I am a Phoenix theme they’ve been running, and is light years ahead of the only thing they seemingly did 10 years ago: The desperate pop-up banner ad that you couldn’t kill even if you shut your computer down.