Beer Bearing Harvard Name Raises University Ire

A new beer with the brand name Harvard is hitting the streets, and the Harvard administration isn't savoring the news.

Launched by the Lowell Brewing Company, which already makes the microbrew Mill City Beer, Harvard Beer is a "mainstream American lager" that its brewers hope will have mass appeal.

The only stumbling block is the Harvard Trademark Office, which does not approve of associating Harvard with an alcoholic beverage.

No lawsuits have been filed, but University attorneys have been in touch with the attorney from Lowell Brewing Company to express Harvard's distaste for the beer's name, said Deputy General Counsel Robert B. Donin.

"I think some officials here thought long and hard about the confusion that underlies an alcoholic product with the name Harvard on it," said Director of Public Affairs Alex Huppe.

Martin D. Finnegan, the company's marketing manager, said the beer has "nothing to do" with the university in Cambridge.

A beer company in Lowell used the name"Harvard" from 1898 until it closed in 1956, sothe new lager represents the resurrection of anold Lowell tradition, Finnegan said.

"We did it simply on the history of our city,"Finnegan said.

The beer comes after a year when universityofficials across the country increasingly crackeddown on underage drinking following the death ofMIT first-year Scott Krueger.

"We as an institution want to make it veryclear that we prohibit the use of alcohol by thosewho are under legal age and we discourage the useof alcohol in general," Huppe said.

Finnegan said the name Harvard is not a majordraw.

"I don't think anybody's going out and buyingthe beer because of Harvard University," Finnegansaid.

Still, Finnegan said that of all monikers,Harvard is a good one. "Harvard's a pretty coolname," he said. "It's an easy name."

This year the University also tightened itspolicy on trademarking the "Harvard" name, butchanges did not apply to outside businesses, manyof which use the name Harvard.

Finnegan referred to other companies such asHarvard Provision or John Harvard's Brew House.

"Have they been asked to change their name?" hesaid. "We're not changing our name either."

Though the packaging on the beer isreddish--close to the color Crimson--Finnegan saidthe color choice was strictly for marketingreasons.

"Red is the color that people are attractedto," he said.

But in the company's history, it did use theword "Crimson" on at least one occasion.

Among beers released in the company's 1898 linewas one called "$1000 Pure Beer Crimson label."

The beer has met immediate success, Finnegansaid.

By the end of the first year, Finnegan said heexpects to sell about 40,000 cases of the beer,which run around $5.00 for a six-pack

A beer company in Lowell used the name"Harvard" from 1898 until it closed in 1956, sothe new lager represents the resurrection of anold Lowell tradition, Finnegan said.

"We did it simply on the history of our city,"Finnegan said.

The beer comes after a year when universityofficials across the country increasingly crackeddown on underage drinking following the death ofMIT first-year Scott Krueger.

"We as an institution want to make it veryclear that we prohibit the use of alcohol by thosewho are under legal age and we discourage the useof alcohol in general," Huppe said.

Finnegan said the name Harvard is not a majordraw.

"I don't think anybody's going out and buyingthe beer because of Harvard University," Finnegansaid.

Still, Finnegan said that of all monikers,Harvard is a good one. "Harvard's a pretty coolname," he said. "It's an easy name."

This year the University also tightened itspolicy on trademarking the "Harvard" name, butchanges did not apply to outside businesses, manyof which use the name Harvard.

Finnegan referred to other companies such asHarvard Provision or John Harvard's Brew House.

"Have they been asked to change their name?" hesaid. "We're not changing our name either."

Though the packaging on the beer isreddish--close to the color Crimson--Finnegan saidthe color choice was strictly for marketingreasons.

"Red is the color that people are attractedto," he said.

But in the company's history, it did use theword "Crimson" on at least one occasion.

Among beers released in the company's 1898 linewas one called "$1000 Pure Beer Crimson label."

The beer has met immediate success, Finnegansaid.

By the end of the first year, Finnegan said heexpects to sell about 40,000 cases of the beer,which run around $5.00 for a six-pack