I will no longer buy Bud Err, maybe not
The country’s largest gun lobby is no longer offering free tickets to get to Sesame Street.
The National Rifle Association had been giving away free tickets to Sesame Place, an amusement park that caters to children, and other theme parks in return for online donations to its political arm, the Institute for Legislative Action.
Parent company Anheuser-Busch Cos. (nyse: BUD – news – people ) said Sesame Place should not have been included in the promotion, which had drawn the ire of gun-control advocates.
“This was an inadvertent error by Busch Entertainment Corp. and we apologize for any confusion,” the St. Louis-based company said in a statement Friday.
Both the NRA and Anheuser-Busch had initially defended the inclusion of Sesame Place, which is located just northeast of Philadelphia and is based on the children’s TV show “Sesame Street.”
Bryan Miller, executive director of Ceasefire New Jersey, told the Philadelphia Daily News for Friday’s editions that it was “just wrong” for the NRA to raise money by using the name of a theme park catering to small children.
You guys will cave to these losers? Sorry, you’ve lost a customer. No more Bud-lite at my house or Michelob.
Update: In comments, bitter writes:
I don’t think there’s a story here. A-B has always been very, very good with supporting our issues. Sebastian and I were talking about this issue during the weekend as we drove past Sesame Place, and we think it’s likely a licensing issue. We believe that A-B licenses the Sesame Street characters/name/etc. and that PBS may have thrown a small fit.
Is it stupid? Yes. And I really doubt that the vouchers say they aren’t good at Sesame Place, just that NRA has to stop advertising Sesame Place in their emails and materials promoting the donation gift.
From a licensing perspective, whoever ultimate owns the Sesame Street name and rights may have be concerned about it’s name being attached to explicitly political donations. These weren’t gifts for donating to education programs or even general operations, but directly to the lobby outfit.
Point being, I don’t think it’s fair to go after A-B without some serious research into legal issues. They do enough to support us the rest of the time, that I find it hard to believe it was due to some minor complaints from a NJ gun control activist.
Could be.
Update 2: AB does a lot for NRA:
How does continuing to offer passes to seven theme parks in exchange for donations to ILA make A-B anti-gun? How does the continued sponsorship and financial support of pro-gun and pro-hunting organizations make A-B part of the gun control crowd? It doesn’t.
July 16th, 2007 at 8:57 am
Too bad I can’t boycott them. Bud is some of the worst tasting swill every made.
July 16th, 2007 at 9:00 am
I always have some in my house. Not for me but more because it seems to be the beer most of my guests drink. Guess I’ll be buying Miller now.
July 16th, 2007 at 9:36 am
I don’t think there’s a story here. A-B has always been very, very good with supporting our issues. Sebastian and I were talking about this issue during the weekend as we drove past Sesame Place, and we think it’s likely a licensing issue. We believe that A-B licenses the Sesame Street characters/name/etc. and that PBS may have thrown a small fit.
Is it stupid? Yes. And I really doubt that the vouchers say they aren’t good at Sesame Place, just that NRA has to stop advertising Sesame Place in their emails and materials promoting the donation gift.
From a licensing perspective, whoever ultimate owns the Sesame Street name and rights may have be concerned about it’s name being attached to explicitly political donations. These weren’t gifts for donating to education programs or even general operations, but directly to the lobby outfit.
Point being, I don’t think it’s fair to go after A-B without some serious research into legal issues. They do enough to support us the rest of the time, that I find it hard to believe it was due to some minor complaints from a NJ gun control activist.
July 16th, 2007 at 10:06 am
[…] won’t buy it because it sucks. SayUncle is talking about different reasons. I tend to agree with Bitter.  Anheiser Busch has been pretty supportive of us, but I’d […]
July 16th, 2007 at 10:25 am
I had no idea that they also made Rolling Rock. They also make a few energy drinks and other stuff.
July 16th, 2007 at 11:51 am
Great,so besides supporting illegals,as well as a whole slue of other lefty issues, they now have added gun control to the list. Nice.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Where do you have any authority to say they support gun control, Michael? Back such an assertion up with facts, as I’m sure they would be quite interesting for the entire gun industry which A-B has supported for years to learn.
July 16th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Miller is owned by a South African company. If you must drink American mass market swill, you might try Coors.
I believe their chairman, Pete Coors, was quite supportive of the 2A when he ran for Senate.
July 16th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
ButtWiper – the official swill of illegal immigrants. I never really cared much for “American” beers – I much prefer microbrews if I’m drinking suds.
July 16th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
[…] NRA’s promotion with free Anheuser-Busch park passes no longer included Sesame Place. I was wrong. (Sebastian and I had already discussed the matter over the weekend.) Uncle called for a boycott. […]
July 16th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
[…] Bitter has more on Anheuser-Busch and NRA. Consider my personal boycott revoked. […]
July 17th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Sorry, Unc, but I can’t go with you on this one. A-B does an astonishing amount for gun owners: they sponsor shooting events and even a range or two, I think; they support gunny politicians, and tried for years to get MO to have a CCW law (before the law finally passed) so that their drivers, who are perennial targets for armed robbery, could be armed.
A-B even had a fallout with Schnucks Supermarkets (whose management are Sarah Brady fans), Schnucks being one of their most important clients in Missouri.
Augie Busch himself is a gun collector, sport shooter and hunter.
Wrong target, and your “GFW compromise” trigger weight is too light, for this organization anyway.
July 17th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Kim, yeah, I agree. Hence the update and the other post.
July 26th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
[…] Err, yeah. Because Busch caved to PBS like two weeks ago. […]