LITTLE ROCK — Promotion falling flat with some
A U.S. official and some colleges are telling the brewer of Bud Light to can it.
Bud Light rolled out a marketing gimmick - "Fan Can" - with the beer cans decorated with collegeteam colors in selected markets just as the schools - and their football teams - were gearing up for a new season.
But the campaign drew criticism from Janet Evans, a senior attorney with the Federal Trade Commission who oversees alcohol advertising, and from certain colleges because the cans could encourage underage drinking on their campuses.
"We've told them we don't ever want to see a campaign like this again," Evans said Wednesday.
"We're concerned about the promotion because it's targeted to college campuses where there are a large number of binge drinkers and underage persons in the audience."
The brewer - Anheuser-BuschInBev, a Belgian-based company that bought giant U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch last year - said the beer can campaign features 27 different color combinations.
"This is a voluntary program made available to all wholesalers nationwide, and roughly half of our wholesalers are participating," Carol Clark, Anheuser-Busch's vice president for corporate social responsibility, said in a statement.
But some universities in the targeted regions, such as Boston College and the University of Colorado, argued that the colored cans infringe on their trademarks and incorrectly hinted that the colleges were endorsing the program, even though the colleges' names and logos are not on the cans.
"We did not want to give the perception that we were cosponsoring in any way a campaign that would be geared toward underage drinking," Boston College spokesman Jack Dunn said.
Michigan, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, Iowa State and Minnesota also objected, according to published reports.
As a result, Anheuser-Busch has told those schools that complained that it would drop the program intheir areas, Dunn said.
Worth the money
New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira was a guest on David Letterman's show Monday night.
During his monologue, Letterman observed that, "The Yankees are a little taken aback by Teixeira. Theyare a little shaken by Teixeira. It's the first time in a deal they've ever got their money's worth. They don't know what to do." Favre-free zone
Usain Bolt is on the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated, no surprise there. But in the upper left-hand corner there is a blocked-out No. 4 with the promise of a "100 percent Favre-free" issue inside.
Woof, woof
From Bob Molinaro of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot: "For $39.99, NFLShop, the league's online merchandising vehicle, is selling a Philadelphia Eagles jersey for dogs that can be customized with Michael Vick's name and number on the back ... no joke.
"Final score: Irony 1, Good Taste 0." And finally
Headlines from the satirical sports Web site sportspickle.com:
"Mets to use accrued personal days and call it a season"
"Brooms brought to opening game of Royals series"
"Plaxico Burress shoots his attorney in the leg"Quote of the day
"I will have failed here
if we don't knock one of them off." Arkansas-Monticello Coach Gwaine Mathews on his team's efforts to beat perennial NCAA Division II championship contenders North Albama, Delta State and Valdosta State
Sports, Pages 16 on 08/27/2009