Marin Institute News, December 2007  |
New Report: The End of the Line for Alcohol Advertising on Public Transit
While for many of us public transit offers a convenient way of getting around, to Big Alcohol, bus shelters and train cars represent one more opportunity to target youth with advertising. That's why last month Marin Institute released a first-of-its-kind report, The End of the Line for Alcohol Advertising on Public Transit. We surveyed 25 of the nation's top transit systems. First the good news: most agencies (75 percent of those responding) have policies that prohibit alcohol advertising. However, two of the largest systems--New York and Boston--do not have such policies. It should come as no surprise then, that alcohol ads are pervasive in these two cities.
In collaboration with researchers at Hunter College (who surveyed alcohol ads on the New York subway system) and New York Assembly member Felix Ortiz (who has introduced legislation to ban the ads), Marin Institute released the report on the steps of City Hall in New York City.
We also know that having a policy doesn't necessarily mean it's being enforced. If you see alcohol ads on your transit system and would like to do something about it, please contact us at transit@marininstitute.org. Stay tuned for more action on this issue.
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August Busch IV: "Stop Genocide? We'd Rather Watch Synchronized Swimming"
As a major sponsor of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the king of beer Anheuser-Busch could play a role in stopping the genocide in Darfur. China is being called "the single most important supporter, economically and diplomatically, of the regime in Sudan," where hundreds of thousands of people have been killed or displaced. And as 2008 draws near, the Olympics represents an important opportunity to put pressure on the Chinese government.
But Anheuser-Busch has refused to speak out against a crisis that even the Bush administration calls genocide. The company was given a failing grade on a recent report card published by a New York-based organization for its apparent lack of understanding of the situation in the region, as well as an unwillingness to respond. For its part, the company says it is sponsoring the Olympics simply, "to support the athletes who bring the world together in the spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."
Then again, it might also have something to do with Budweiser's partial ownership of Tsing Tao (China's most popular beer) and the fact that China is the largest-volume and fastest-growing beer market in the world. And did we mention that Anheuser-Busch operates 14 of its 15 international breweries there?
Sources:
Darfur advocates press A-B to drop Olympics
Molson Faces the Facebook Consequences 
With 31 million active users, almost half of them college-aged, Facebook is a potential goldmine for alcohol makers interested in connecting their brands to cutting-edge social marketing technology. And while most beer brands in the US appear to be making a slow creep toward their young target audience via the site, Canadian beer Molson (owned by US-Based Molson Coors) recently made a bold move to hook young Facebook users while promoting binge drinking.
In a contest featured on the sponsored "Molson Canadian Nation" Facebook page, the brewer invited college students to compete for the title of "number one party school in Canada." The result, according to a Canadian student paper, was more like the film "Animal House." Many of the images depicted scantily clad students drinking enormous quantities of Molson. One, labeled "Four drinks on the go at 10 a.m.," shows a female student clutching a handful of beers.
Although the company pulled the contest after public outcry, a recent visit to the same page revealed a homage to the winner of the party school contest, along with wallpaper, screensavers, and a link to an event calendar on the official Molson site, with the directive, "get your a** to a Molson party." The official Facebook Coors group also boasts 27,000 members. How the company ensures that all are over the legal drinking age is unclear.
Sources:
Molson Ends Facebook Party School Contest
Molson bashed over Facebook contest
Don't Republicans Care About Underage Drinking Too?
After a recent hearing, the California State Board of Equalization voted (again) to move ahead with plans to tax alcopops as distilled sprits instead of beer. This, despite vociferous industry lobbying that included newspaper ads, a dedicated website, and rolling billboards outside the hearing. The two board members voting no (again) included Republican Bill Leonard.
Now the editors of a Bakersfield newspaper want to know: "Republicans portray themselves as defenders of morality and protectors of children, family values, law and order, sobriety, propriety and decency, why, then, would [Leonard] -- representing the conservative Central Valley, of all places -- try to stand in the way of a policy intended to keep alcohol out of the hands of teens?"
Good question. Perhaps a recent Los Angeles Times article can shed some light on the answer: While Leonard cannot receive donations larger than 250 dollars from industry, a group of alcohol distillers recently gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Sacramento-area nonprofit that employs Leonard's wife and his chief deputy. But is that really what they meant by family values?
Sources:
Questions arise about a tiny nonprofit's financial ties
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