Signs at the Athens Wal-Mart that declared the store to be the “Fest Supplies Headquarters” were taken down because of potential confusion about who sponsored the controversial block parties.
The sign included dates for Ohio University-sanctioned events, such as Dads Weekend and Homecoming, alongside other events not sanctioned by the university such as #Fest and Elliot Fest.
A photo of the banner — containing a Natural Light beer logo at the bottom — at the store, 929 E. State St., was brought into a meeting between Interim Dean of Students Jenny Hall-Jones, Ohio University Police Chief Andrew Powers and Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle, said Paula Horan-Moseley, Athens Service Safety Director.
“The Multi-Party Task Force and police chiefs took it upon themselves to approach Wal-Mart about the signs,” Horan-Moseley said. “The manager was very agreeable and took (the signs) down.”
Chief Powers said during his and Chief Pyle’s meeting with Wal-Mart manager Keith Adams that the chiefs did not ask Adams to take the banner down but informed him that the banner could be confusing to those who have never attended a fest in the past.
Adams could not be reached for comment.
“We just thought the manager didn’t understand what the dates meant; we met with him and told him about the fests, and that was that,” Powers said. “He chose to take (the banners) down himself. We just filled him in.”
Anheuser-Busch — the parent company of Natural Light — does not have a sponsorship agreement with OU, nor does it sponsor festivals on campus, according to a statement from the company.
Wal-Mart asked Classic Brands Athens, which distributes Natural Light in the Athens area, to create the sign for a display in the store, Classic Brands Manager Mark Bisang said, adding that the company is not affiliated with OU and does not sponsor the fests.
Bisang was unable to say how much the fests account for in terms of beer sales but said it is likely relatively small in terms of the company’s distribution area.
“Whenever someone has a party and they are drinking beer, that helps us,” he said.
The concern was not that the events are not sanctioned, but that OU encourages students to make good decisions through the “Be Smart, Be Civil” marketing campaign, and the banner contrasted these ideas, Hall-Jones wrote in an email.
“As a community, we are all concerned about high-risk behavior that can occur at the fests,” she wrote. “As Wal-Mart is a community partner, we wanted to include them in the conversation.”
The “Be Smart, Be Civil” campaign was an idea founded by university and city officials to promote and encourage good behavior to keep the OU students and Athens residents safe, especially in high-risk scenarios.
Hall-Jones said she was mainly concerned with the fact that the family weekends were listed on the banner with the student fests.
“We’re trying to make the fests safer, and having the banner hung up at Wal-Mart didn’t show that,” she said.
—Ryan Clark contributed to this story.
az346610@ohiou.edu
