Dozens of colleges across America have spoken out against Budweiser's new marketing campaign that features Bud Light cans decorated with popular school colors. The "Team Pride Fan Can" campaign sparked debate in the AU community about whether or not the cans would be popular among AU students.
The Fan Cans are available in 26 different school color combinations, according to the Team Pride Web site. The Fan Cans will be sold in stores from Aug. 3 to Oct. 26 this year. The Team Pride Web site urges consumers to buy Fan Cans so that they can "create year-round excitement and [show] their support" for their college sports teams.
The campaign has met considerable resistance from many colleges that feel that the Team Pride campaign promotes underage drinking on college campuses, according to a report by Newsday. Over 25 colleges have filed complaints with Anheuser-Busch, Budweiser's parent company, about the Team Pride campaign.
The cans are not branded to any particular university or third party, said Anheuser-Busch's Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility Carol Clark.
"The program is one of many elements that make up our overall Bud Light marketing plan," she said in a written statement. "This program is expressly timed to coincide with the beginning of the football season and baseball playoffs."
Tenley Wine and Liquor on Wisconsin Avenue has recently started selling cases of red and blue Bud Light Fan Cans to appeal to AU students, according to one of the store's employees who wished to not be named. It is too early to tell whether or not the Team Pride campaign will have an effect on underage drinking at AU, he said.
Kate Diemidio, the health educator of the Student Health Center, said she does not think that school colors will impact whether or not a student chooses to drink.
"If students are of age they should be responsible about drinking," Diemidio said. "I'm confident that students can choose responsibly regardless of school colors on beer cans."
Rosie McSweeney, the Director of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution Services, believes that AU students will make smart decisions when it comes to underage drinking.
"We have very intelligent students at AU," McSweeney said. "I hope that AU students would look beyond the color of cans and realize that they do not have to be victims of marketing ploys."
Anheuser-Busch is committed to its position on college drinking, Clark said.
"If students are 21 or older and choose to drink, we want them to do so responsibly; if they are under 21, we want them to respect the law and not drink," she said in the statement.
You can reach this staff writer at jryan@theeagleonline.com.
