Students start to take over the seven kingdoms of UNC

Apparently, winter came a little early in Chapel Hill.

One sponsor of this year’s FallFest was HBO, who brought along the Iron Throne made famous by the television show “Game of Thrones.”

“We had to turn away a number of students. We only had the throne for three hours before they had to pack it away and ship it back out west. At the point when we had to cut the line off, I think people were really disappointed. But the line was going the whole time,” said Bobby Kunstman, senior associate director of student life and leadership at the Carolina Union.

The popularity of the show “Game of Thrones” made HBO’s table and photo station a main attraction at FallFest.

“My roommate got me into it, and I actually wasn’t going to take a picture with it because the line was really long, but I knew that I would regret it if I didn’t get a photo with it,” junior Emily Sullivan said.

There are five seasons of the TV show, which is based on a book series by George R.R. Martin, on HBO.

“I’m a ‘Game of Thrones’ fan. I’ve read all the books and I’ve watched all the episodes. HBO (was one of the sponsors of) FallFest, and the throne was actually there, and I was pretty pumped for that,” junior Lane Williams said.

FallFest didn’t advertise the Iron Throne, only that HBO was a sponsor. Organizers didn’t reveal the Iron Throne would be there until the day of the event.

HBO reached out to UNC over the summer to be a sponsor, Kuntsman said, after they saw the Carolina Union Activities Board host a screening of “Game of Thrones.”

“They’re also a partner with the University. We pay for HBO so residents have it in the residence halls,” he said. “Because of that we are an HBO campus. There aren’t a lot of HBO campuses across the country so they were excited to partner with us as an HBO campus in a different way than they had before.”

Sullivan said she thought this was a great advertisement opportunity for HBO.

“I definitely think that it was a good move for the school but also good for HBO themselves as far as advertising goes, because I know a few people I was in line with who aren’t fans of the show but just thought it was cool and considered watching it because of it,” she said.

For students who are fans of the show, this gave them an opportunity to sit where many others had sat before.

“It’s just the symbol of the series and basically even if you follow their Facebook page or Twitter page, they post all famous celebrities sitting on it and taking photos on it. It’s just really cool that it was here,” Williams said.

Joseph Bahr, Vice President of Worldwide Digital Distribution and Business Development at HBO, said they are excited about the launch of HBO GO and MAX GO on campus. 

On-campus residents have access to both services using their Onyen ID and password, and they decided to reach out to UNC during Week of Welcome to bring the unique, HBO-focused experience to the campus.

"We were thrilled with the turnout on Sunday and the students' excitement around HBO GO and MAX GO," Bahr said.

@AcyJackson

university@dailytarheel.com