Beer Distributor Covers Bud Billboard

A Carlsbad, New Mexico beer distributor has covered up a welcome sign that read: “Bud Light: Our kind of town,” after two organizations expressed concerns that it encouraged drinking and driving, the Carlsbad Current-Argus News reported Feb. 17.

Keep Carlsbad Beautiful and the Eddy County DWI program petitioned L&F Distributors, an Anheuser-Busch wholesaler, to remove the sign. “We don’t disagree that beer companies have the right to advertise,” county DWI program coordinator, Cindy Sharif said. “In this case, our objection was the placement of the billboard and the message it gave. The billboard with the Bud Light ’Our kind of town’ message was at the gateway into Carlsbad. It’s just not the kind of image we want to project about our town.”

Russ Greene, general manager of L&F Distributors, agreed to remove the sign. “We wanted to be sensitive to the community’s concerns,” Greene said, adding that the advertising campaign had been discontinued.