September 23, 2005

Leonard H. Roberts
Executive Chairman
RadioShack
Riverfront Campus World Headquarters
300 RadioShack Circle
Fort Worth, TX 76102-1964

Dear Mr. Roberts:

We are writing to you as a member of the JC Penney Company Board of Directors and the National Advisory Board of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The Marin Institute is an alcohol industry watchdog and a resource for solutions to community alcohol problems. Our ally, Dads and Daughters, is the national advocacy nonprofit that provides men with tools to be better fathers and advocates for daughters. Together, we work with many community groups that address the problem of underage drinking. That is why we were disappointed to find T-shirts decorated with beer and spirits logos in recent JC Penney newspaper inserts, examples of which are enclosed. The moderately priced ($9.99) shirts, bearing Jack Daniels, Budweiser, Miller Lite and Guinness logos, appeared in at least three Sunday inserts bearing Penney's “All Access Back-to-School 2005” logo, and one which advertised these alcohol branded T-shirts for “juniors.”

The Marin Institute sent a letter to JC Penney Company Chairman and CEO Myron E. Ullman, III on August 9, 2005, asking him to remove alcohol brand clothing from JC Penney stores and urging him to adopt a policy not to carry such merchandise in the future. To date we have not heard from Mr. Ullman and JC Penney stores continue to sell these alcohol T-shirts. Our community partners tell us that direct requests to local store managers in several states to remove this merchandise have been ignored. Moving the merchandise from the boy's or junior department to the men's department did little to address community concerns because underage young men often wear men's sizes.

We don't have to tell you that underage drinking is a huge problem in this country. In addition to the many young lives lost in DUI crashes, underage drinking contributes to school failure, sexual assault, suicide, and violence and increases the risk of life-long alcohol dependence. Media messages that glamorize drinking or trivialize youth drinking fuel this tragic and costly problem. One study (enclosed) proved that adolescents who wear the kind of alcohol brand T-shirts Penney's sells are more likely to start drinking while underage.

We understand why the makers of Jack Daniels, Budweiser, Miller Lite and Guinness would want young people to wear their brand names. We don't understand why JC Penney would play the role of accomplice to the irresponsible promotion of alcohol to young people.

We urge you to use your influence to convince JC Penney Company to remove alcohol brand clothing from its stores and stop doing the alcohol industry's dirty work. You can regain the trust of many of your customers by adopting a policy not to carry such merchandise in the future.

Sincerely,

cc: Myron E. Ullman

enclosures:
JC Penney catalog images
“Alcohol Merchandise Encourages Underage Drinking”