JimBob
09-01-2009, 06:14 PM
OSU objects to Bud Light cans
In this image provided by Anheuser-Busch InBev, one of 27 designs for the company's promotional "Fan Cans" is shown. The company is dropping its "Fan Cans" promotions from communities around the country where colleges have complained that the effort - which sells cans of Bud Light in school colors - promotes underage drinking and infringes on trademarks. AP Photo
By SHANNON MUCHMORE World Staff Writer
Published: 9/1/2009 1:21 PM
Last Modified: 9/1/2009 4:49 PM
Oklahoma State University is among the colleges objecting to Anheuser-Busch’s recent marketing campaign using collegiate athletic team colors on cans of Bud Light sold near campus.
As many as 20 of the 27 colleges whose fan bases are targeted have complained about the campaign, saying it promotes underage drinking and may be a form of trademark infringement.
The campaign, known as Team Pride, is set to roll out this week as the college football season begins. OSU, along with the University of Oklahoma and University of Tulsa, will begin their seasons this weekend.
“We are concerned the product has now appeared in select Oklahoma markets,” OSU spokesman Gary Shutt said. “Along with many other universities, we expressed our concern that using OSU colors targeted a group that included underage drinkers and also constituted trademark infringement. Color matters when it comes to marketing and packaging. People in Oklahoma connect OSU with orange.”
Bud Light is the biggest brand for Anheuser-Busch, which is the largest brewer for the United States.
The company said in a letter to the Collegiate Licensing Company, which wrote to the beverage company about its concern, that it will pull the cans from markets where schools have formally objected to their sale.
A lawyer for OSU’s governing board, the Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents, sent a letter to Anheuser-Busch Sales of Oklahoma in late July to reiterate the university’s trademark policy.
References to OSU cannot appear on promotional material without the university’s consent,
according to the letter.
The Federal Trade Commission has discussed the underage drinking concern with the brewing company. Anheuser Busch has said the marketing is targeted at legal-age drinkers, and in a letter to Boston College, said it did have the right to use school colors to market its products.
We'll all sleep safer tonight.:food-smiley-004:
In this image provided by Anheuser-Busch InBev, one of 27 designs for the company's promotional "Fan Cans" is shown. The company is dropping its "Fan Cans" promotions from communities around the country where colleges have complained that the effort - which sells cans of Bud Light in school colors - promotes underage drinking and infringes on trademarks. AP Photo
By SHANNON MUCHMORE World Staff Writer
Published: 9/1/2009 1:21 PM
Last Modified: 9/1/2009 4:49 PM
Oklahoma State University is among the colleges objecting to Anheuser-Busch’s recent marketing campaign using collegiate athletic team colors on cans of Bud Light sold near campus.
As many as 20 of the 27 colleges whose fan bases are targeted have complained about the campaign, saying it promotes underage drinking and may be a form of trademark infringement.
The campaign, known as Team Pride, is set to roll out this week as the college football season begins. OSU, along with the University of Oklahoma and University of Tulsa, will begin their seasons this weekend.
“We are concerned the product has now appeared in select Oklahoma markets,” OSU spokesman Gary Shutt said. “Along with many other universities, we expressed our concern that using OSU colors targeted a group that included underage drinkers and also constituted trademark infringement. Color matters when it comes to marketing and packaging. People in Oklahoma connect OSU with orange.”
Bud Light is the biggest brand for Anheuser-Busch, which is the largest brewer for the United States.
The company said in a letter to the Collegiate Licensing Company, which wrote to the beverage company about its concern, that it will pull the cans from markets where schools have formally objected to their sale.
A lawyer for OSU’s governing board, the Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents, sent a letter to Anheuser-Busch Sales of Oklahoma in late July to reiterate the university’s trademark policy.
References to OSU cannot appear on promotional material without the university’s consent,
according to the letter.
The Federal Trade Commission has discussed the underage drinking concern with the brewing company. Anheuser Busch has said the marketing is targeted at legal-age drinkers, and in a letter to Boston College, said it did have the right to use school colors to market its products.
We'll all sleep safer tonight.:food-smiley-004: