Don’t let Bud have the last word
on underage drinking

Anheuser-Busch still uses kid-friendly mascots like these dancing lizards/frogs on Budweiser.com

Anheuser-Busch, the world’s largest brewer, has been working hard to deflect responsibility from its own role in this country’s underage drinking problem.
This summer the company helped its alcoholic beverage distributors get letters to the editor published in local community papers promoting Anheuser-Busch’s latest answer to underage drinking.

The letter, and similar versions of it, appeared in newspapers across the country including The Reporter (Vacaville, California) and The Daily Nonpareil (Council Bluffs, Iowa) touting Anheuser-Busch’s public education campaign aimed at adults, “Prevent, Don’t Provide!” The letters cite the 2003 National Academy of Sciences report finding that two-thirds of teens report getting alcohol from parents or other adults. What Anheuser-Busch and its distributors don’t tell you is that the same report also called on alcohol companies to refrain from marketing practices that have substantial underage appeal and to take more care in placing ads to reduce youthful exposure. But, while Anheuser-Busch encourages adults to be more responsible, the maker of Budweiser and Bud Light exposed more than 25 million underage viewers to beer ads during the Super Bowl alone, and continues to use films popular with teens, like Dodgeball and Wedding Crashers, to market its brands.

Likewise, Anheuser-Busch positions its Budweiser.com Web site as a popular entertainment destination for young people. It has an animated video of dancing lizards and frogs—proven popular with kids—downloadable Budweiser mobile songs, screensavers and ring tones, as well as personalized email accounts (e.g., yourname@Budweiser.com). Even the Marin Institute’s 20 year-old intern was able to register on the site, using a fake date of birth, and get a Budweiser.com email address.

The Marin Institute responded to Anheuser-Busch’s letter writing campaign by alerting its activists and others in the field and encouraging them to send a letter of their own to local papers. Taking the lead, Linda Pratt, a prevention advocate in Solano County, California and member of the Marin Institute Board of Directors, adapted our sample letter, and got it published in two California papers: The Reporter (Vacaville) and The Daily Republic (Solano County).

Underage drinking is a big problem and there is plenty of responsibility to go around. But before Anheuser-Busch tries to earn brownie points by telling other people to “do their part” we think the brewer should clean up its own act. For starters, Anheuser-Busch should stay out of PG-13 movies and cut all the animal acts.

If you see such a letter in your local paper, we invite you to respond by customizing and sending our sample letter to the editor.

P.S. Email us! We’d love to know if your letter is published.