The Illinois Corn Growers made an in-game statement (or two) during the Rose Bowl. Too bad the local team didn’t win. This graphic is an example of the messages they used for this promotional opportunity.
The game on the field may not have yielded the desired results that the University of Illinois football program had hoped for on Tuesday, but Illinois did make a significant impact. It was in fact the Illinois Corn Marketing Board (ICMB) that provided a significant “win” for the State of Illinois’ agri-business community, at the prestigious Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
The ICMB used the national stage to deliver a few poignant messages. First, Illinois farmers want to help curb the nation’s dependence on foreign oil through the use of ethanol. Secondly, the nation can rest assured that farmers have the capacity to accomplish this, while still providing more than the necessary amount of corn as a food source.
With the University of Illinois making an appearance in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1984, the ICMB partnered with InStadium, Inc., a sports media and marketing company, to harness the national exposure of the more than 93,000 attendees. All of this was done in an effort to increase the awareness of the uses and implications of ethanol, which is widely regarded as an environmentally friendly fuel alternative.