If you are like the typical college student, you have drunk a beer or two this college football season. You have probably also noticed that some beer cans have a little more team spirit than others. Since August, Bud Light has been selling beer cans in a distinctive orange can around Austin, to help promote Bud Light as a UT supporting beer.
Longhorn faithful love everything Burnt Orange.
Bud Light has 26 “fan cans” listed on its tailgate themed website, including the “burnt orange and white”. The website simply lists the cans and asks visitors to vote. Black and Gold appears to be winning with %9, compared to UT’s %2.The website also has other tailgate themed interactivity courtesy of “Jimmy”.
The topic of underage drinking and college binge drinking has been on the mind of educators and parents everywhere. Estimates on the lethality of college age drinking vary, but everyone agrees that binge drinking is something that should be discouraged and no college wants to be seen promoting it.
Some groups are concerned that the cans could imply colleges support binge drinking.
Unsurprisingly, many colleges are not happy with this. The Wall Street Journal reports that many colleges, including Texas A&M and other Texas schools, are up in arms over the unauthorized branding. The vast majority have even asked Bud Light to cease producing the cans.
Texas has seamed to have taken a different tact when dealing with this issue – they say the color is not even burnt orange. Chris Plonsk, who overseas UT licensing was quoted in the WSJ, saying “You wouldn’t have thought it had anything to do with us.”
Well, if Chris Plonsk doesn’t have a problem with the non-burnt orange color that has appeared on the bud lights beer cans, I say drink one for Bevo!
