Joe Paterno’s Name Blurred in PSU Ad

Well this is awkward.

Saturday is Homecoming at Penn State when the Nittany Lions host Northwestern (always a homecoming favorite). As such, the university put up a video on YouTube on Tuesday entitled “Penn State Generations” that encourages fans to return to Happy Valley and relive their memories there.

But there’s something extremely odd about the video. When a child reaches for Paterno’s book, “Quotable Joe: Words of Wisdom by and about Joe Paterno, College Football’s Coaching Icon,” the spine of the book that says “Quotable Joe” has “Joe” blurred.  The school’s decision to distance itself from Paterno after his legacy has been tarnished over the Jerry Sandusky scandal is debatable but the blurring of the book’s spine makes it feel like they are covering up an obscenity or pornography.

If Penn State really didn’t want Paterno in the Homecoming ad, why didn’t they just re-shoot the whole clip?