UConn Beer Billboards Brew Controversy [FoxCT]

Article as it appeared on Fox CT

Controversy still brews, even after some beer billboards came down.

The four billboards, along Interstates 84 and 91 in the Hartford area, attracted a lot of heat because they advertised UConn football with a cold one.

While some state leaders protested to the university, UConn’s athletic director, Warde Manuel, claimed the billboards were a promotion between Coors and IMG, which has the marketing rights for UConn sports. He also said UConn receives no direct funding from the beer company.

UConn students are mixed about the whole thing.

“I like it, I like drinking beer and I like UConn, seems like a great billboard to me,” Mike Giordano, a UConn senior, said.

Another senior, Rachel Henne, disagreed, “I’d say it kind of condones the Huskies drinking, which probably isn’t the best thing after some of the situations our campus has been in.”

UConn President Susan Herbst and Board Trustees Chairman Lawrence McHugh issued a joint statement, stating the billboards sent the wrong message and they’re glad the ads have come down.

They also said UConn cannot appear to endorse drinking among students.