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Michigan cites 'miscommunication' in advertising free tickets for Coke purchases

A promotion spotted on Michigan's campus offering two free tickets to Saturday's Minnesota-Michigan game with the purchase of two Coca-Cola products has been canceled because of what the school terms a "miscommunication."

A sign advertising the deal was first spotted by a member of the Michigan Daily, the university's student paper.

After the tweet was shared throughout Twitter and the rest of the internet, Michigan issued a statement to MLive.com.

"Coke is a great partner of ours and had purchased a limited block of tickets for the Minnesota game for a Coke retail activation aimed at Michigan students," the athletic department wrote in a statement to MLive on Monday night. "Due to a miscommunication in the approval process, this promotion should not have run as is. As a result, it is being pulled immediately. However, all purchases to date will be honored by Coke."

Getting students to come to the game in exchange for caffeination seems like an easy (and effective) way of wooing students to games, but it comes at the serious risk of devaluing the product.

We'll let you make the joke about the actual value of a Michigan ticket at this point. The Wolverines lost 26-10 to Utah in Week 4 and were shut out 31-0 at Notre Dame in Week 2. Coach Brady Hoke's job may be getting less and less secure. And we'll also let you wonder about what the miscommunication actually was.

As MLive noted, the school has seen a decrease in student ticket sales this season. The site says student ticket purchases dropped "about 6,000." Last year, Michigan changed the way that student tickets were assigned and changed the section to general admission. In 2014, class levels are the priority decider for students with future season seating priority dependent on attendance.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!