I guess I don't see why anyone would drink this kind of crap, but then the cost of beer isn't as big a deal to me now as it was when I was in college.
When I went to Madison, there were actually a wide variety of not-terrible local Wisconsin brews available for $4.99 a case. In those days we just looked forward to the fall arrival of Leinie's Bock, which was $6.99 a case and pretty strong stuff.