Lumbees and Anheuser-Busch distributor resolve Budweiser ad dispute

An Anheuser-Busch distributor has agreed to make a “substantial donation” to a non-profit organization that serves the Lumbees of North Carolina to resolve a trademark violation claim by the tribe.

The Lumbees and R.A. Jeffreys, the Raleigh-based Budweiser distributor, announced the agreement Friday in a joint statement.

The donation to Lumbee Land Development – a nonprofit organization set up to offer an array of services that include rehabilitation programs, housing, tribal enrollment efforts, youth and elder services – stems from a lawsuit filed in mid-June by the Lumbees.

The suit contended that Anheuser-Busch and R.A. Jeffreys had illegally used the Lumbee logo and its “Heritage, Pride & Strength” slogan in convenience store advertisements for Bud and Bud Light.

“As alcohol and drug abuse are often associated with Native American culture, the use of the Lumbee tribal brand and an image of a Native American dancer in an advertisement promoting an alcohol product is viewed as particularly offensive to Lumbee People,” Harvey Godwin, the Lumbee tribal chairman, said in a June 10 post to Facebook.

Several days later, an Anheuser-Busch spokeswoman said the Budweiser and Bud Light marketing campaign in Eastern North Carolina had been developed without the knowledge of the Missouri-based beermaker.

In that statement, the spokeswoman added that R.A. Jeffreys had taken down the advertising shortly after learning of the trouble the banners had brewed.

The distributor has since apologized to the Lumbees, and the tribe has accepted the apology, according to the statement.

Though the size of the donation was not disclosed in the settlement agreement, the money is to be used for educational or youth programs.

“Both the Lumbee Tribe and R.A. Jeffreys are committed to moving forward from this experience in a positive and mutually respectful way,” the joint statement said.

This story was originally published July 1, 2016 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Lumbees and Anheuser-Busch distributor resolve Budweiser ad dispute."