This is kind of a tough one.
Legislators Protest Beer Logos on Museum Exhibit
The short version is that a well-known acrobatic aircraft, which is currently painted in a red-and-white color scheme with Bud Light logos, is to be displayed in the Smithsonian's new aviation museum at Dulles Airport. Several members of Congress have objected to this claiming that it's inappropriate and will influence underage people to drink beer.
My first reaction on hearing about this was that, since the sponsorship of Anheuser-Busch helped make the existence of this aircraft possible, then it's entirely appropriate that this be reflected in the display. However, upon reading further, I found out that the guy who built the plane and flew it in competition did so himself. The plane was originally painted blue and yellow. It was only after he retired from competition and started performing at airshows that Anheuser-Busch came on as a sponsor and the plane was repainted.
The argument can be made that either paint scheme is historically accurate. However, I think I'm going to come down on the side of saying that the plane should be left as is. It's in the state it was in when it was retired and in which it has spent most of its life (it was built in or before 1975 and was repainted in 1983). And, although A-B wasn't involved in the construction of the plane, they did help make it possible for it to continue as an exhibition aircraft at airshows. Corporate sponsorship in sports, especially motor sports, is a fact of life in this country and repainting the plane its original colors, or simply covering the logos, isn't going to change that. Most people will realize that this does not consitute an endorsement of Bud Light by the museum, or vice versa, and parents should be explaining to their children about the dangers of underage drinking anyway. However, if they want to do something, I would have no problem with there being a disclaimer on the display stating that the museum isn't endorsing Bud Light or vice versa.
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