• Participate in a community event
  Elected officials often attend local fairs, charity run/walk races, and other events. Use these opportunities to introduce yourself to your state legislator and briefly talk about your concerns

Sample Op-ed

The Marin Institute’s Media Advocacy Manager, Laurie Leiber, placed the following Op-ed in Knight-Ridder Newspapers prior to Anheuser-Busch’s 1995 annual shareholder meeting. At the meeting, activist shareholders introduced a resolution calling on the world’s largest brewer to adopt more responsible advertising practices. Knight-Ridder Newspapers

Is This Bud for Your Kids?

On its way to broader markets and greater profits, the world’s biggest brewer is softening up our kids with marketing strategies and handouts that exploit their vulnerability.

When Anheuser-Busch holds its annual shareholders’ meeting in Williamsburg, Va., on Wednesday, a group of shareholders, including the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration an order of Catholic nuns will direct the corporate giant to own up to its actions. The shareholders who are concerned about the consequences of advertising to youth will introduce a resolution asking the company to report how its marketing affects kids and how much of its beer is consumed by underage drinkers.

The sisters and several other supporters of the resolution charge that Anheuser-Busch promotions that are attractive to youngsters stuffed animals, Halloween images, cartoon characters, candy build acceptance for beer drinking among youth. These advertising items belie company claims that it does not market to minors and opposes consumption by minors.

The shareholders introduced the resolution because they are uncomfortable sharing in profits that result from putting young people at risk. Beer is the alcoholic beverage of choice among young people. According to the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, junior and senior high school students consume 1.1 billion cans of beer each year (or about 183 million six-packs at about $3 each). Anheuser-Busch produces about 45 percent of the beer consumed in this country. Based upon this market share, Anheuser-Busch could be generating as much as $225 million in sales revenue per year from illegal sales to young people who have not yet graduated from high school.

Although it obviously profits from underage drinking, Anheuser-Busch claims that it is “part of the solution.” It sounds impressive when Anheuser-Busch says it has spent nearly $150 million since 1982 on programs to encourage personal responsibility and discourage sales to minors. But that is only about $12 million a year. Anheuser-Busch spends about $300 million per year on traditional advertising (TV, radio, magazines, and billboards) and as much or more on other types of promotions (sports, concerts, contests, and point-of-sale materials) for a total of at least $600 million.

Anheuser-Busch defends this disparity with a premise that is ridiculous. It claims that its $600 million in promotions have no effect on youth drinking while its $12 million in prevention programs help minimize the problem. A growing body of credible research shows that children see, and are influenced by, beer ads. There is no evidence to support Anheuser-Busch’s claim that its modest investment in prevention has any positive impact.

In fact, many of the Anheuser-Busch sponsored “moderation” programs do not even address underage drinking. It makes no sense for Anheuser-Busch to tell junior and senior high school students to “Know When to Say When” because the message implies that some drinking among students is acceptable.

A study published by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety in 1992 reported that teen-agers exposed to the “Know When to Say When” slogan interpreted “when” to mean three or four drinks. For this audience, at least, the message is more promotion than prevention.

Flimsy as it is, the pretense that the beer industry is doing its part to prevent underage drinking has been used to deflect most meaningful restrictions on beer advertising. The shareholders supporting the resolution say that Anheuser-Busch’s “personal responsibility” programs are irrelevant. “We do not question the good they do,” writes Sister Julie Tydrich of the Francisco Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. “We are asking them to stop creating ads that appeal to teenagers.

April is Alcohol Awareness Month, an appropriate time to acknowledge the efforts of these responsible Anheuser-Busch shareholders.

Beer is the drug most likely to contribute to the death or long-term disability of a young person. Not heroin, not crack, not even tobacco.Americans and America’s children get most of their information about beer from messages designed to encourage drinking. Beer producers must be held accountable for their marketing.

These responsible shareholders deserve our respect for putting the health and welfare of children before profit. We can only hope that Anheuser-Busch does the same.

Laurie Leiber
[Former] Director
Center on Alcohol Advertising
Berkeley, California

SPEAK OUT IN YOUR COMMUNITY

You can create change within your community by being a watchful and informed citizen and speaking out ¾ to area merchants, community groups, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Some ideas include:

•  Ask a local merchant to remove a promotional display (link to text and sample letter)

•  Circulate a petition to collect names of local residents who support a proposed policy change. (link to text and sample petition)

•  Talk to other community members and gain their support. (link to text and list of types of community organizations)

•  Attend meetings of your local planning commission, city council and board of supervisors and speak out on alcohol policy and related issues.

Ask a Local Merchant to Remove an Irresponsible Promotional Display

Visit local merchants in your neighborhood (or use this sample letter (link ) and ask them to refrain from displaying alcohol advertising that is targeted to kids:

Sample Merchant Letter

[Store Manager Name]
[Store Name]
[Store Address]

Dear [Manager Name]

I was in your store on [date] purchasing [item], when I noticed a display for [name of alcohol product] that I found particularly disturbing. The display, while marketing an alcohol product, was unmistakably targeting an underage audience. [Explain what aspects of the display might appeal to youth, such as the location, or the use of a sports theme, animated characters, or celebrities].

I am sure you are aware of recent news reports on the epidemic of underage drinking. I hope that you share my concern and commitment to ensuring that we in [name of town] are doing all that we can to preserve and protect the health and well being of our kids.

Please show your support for our community and the safety of our kids by removing the promotional materials for [products name] from your store.

Thank you for your consideration of this issue. I will contact you in the next few days to follow up.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Address]
[Phone Number]

Talk to Other Community Members

Another important way to get the word out is to talk about the issue whenever the opportunity presents itself. For example, ask for time at your local Chamber of Commerce, PTA, Kiwanis, or homeowner's association meeting. Remember that the best way to communicate is to use facts, local information, and visuals to make your case.