Quarterly newsletter posted at

www.MarinInstitute.org

Amon Rappaport

You Talked Back,

Executive Editor

Laurie Leiber
Contributing Editor

Tiffany Steeves
Design & Production

Contributors: Lindsay Leon-

Beer Industry Listened
Atkins, Magdalena Hurwitz,
Jessica Wolin and Shailushi Baxi The beer industry is changing its behavior thanks in part to advertising
Ritchie.
complaints sent by people using Marin Institute’s online Talk Back system.
Printed on Recycled Paper. Each complaint goes to both the appropriate trade association (such as the Beer
Copyright© Marin Institute
2006. Permission granted to Institute) and to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which monitors the alcohol
reproduce for educational industry’s compliance with its own self-imposed advertising codes. The FTC told
purposes.
Marin Institute that complaints sent through Talk Back helped put pressure on the
MARIN INSTITUTE STAFF Beer Institute to establish a new independent review board to evaluate complaints
Chuck Greene, M.B.A
Interim Executive Director
about beer advertising. Too bad the Beer Institute is also weakening its advertising
Amon Rappaport, M.P.P. code so that ads may use lewd or indecent language, show actual beer drinking, and
Communications Director
suggest that sexual activity results from consuming beer.
Jessica Wolin, M.P.H., M.C.P.
Associate Director
Community Support The new beer advertising review panel means that consumer complaints could
Jian Lu, M.B.A. potentially achieve even greater public visibility and industry impact in the future.
Controller
Laurie Leiber, M.P.H. In other words, keep the pressure on by using Talk Back! We’ve updated the system
Media Advocacy Director so you can attach images of the offending ad, better cite specific sections of the
Shailushi Baxi Ritchie, M.P.H. distilled spirits code, and reference the updated (but weaker) beer code.
Manager, Technical Assistance
Gail Greene
Fiscal & HR Manager Talk Back to bad ads at www.MarinInstitute.org/talkback
Leigh Steffy
Assistant Director
Lindsay Leon-Atkins, M.P.A.
Program Assistant
Baiyu Zhen
Officer Manager

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Linda M. Bosma, Ph.D. 24 Belvedere Street
(Vice President)
Minneapolis, MN San Rafael, CA 94901
Rosario Casanova, Ph.D.
Novato, CA p: 415-456-5692
Michael S. Cunningham f: 415-456-0491
Sacramento, CA www.MarinInstitute.org
Rev. Robert James Current
Novato, CA
James Loyce, Jr.
(President)
San Francisco, CA
Larry Meredith, Ph.D.
(Treasurer)
San Rafael, CA
Mark Montobbio, J.D.
Novato, CA

Poorva Pandey
Novato, CA
Carlos E. Peñ a
Tiburon, CA
Linda A. Pratt, M.A.
(Secretary)
Oakland, CA
Julio Rodriguez
Chicago, IL
Maureen Sedonaen
San Francisco, CA
Joseph H. Therrien
(Vice President)
Fairfax, CA
 SPRING 20 06

We are an alcohol
Money From Misery
MISSION

industry watchdog
and a resource
for solutions Anheuser-Busch Uses Hurricane Katrina
to community
dog
as an Opportunity to Increase Profits
ch
alcohol problems. Wat Hurricane Katrina exacted a huge toll on residents in Texas,
Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. After the hurricane, there was
another disaster waiting to happen, a perfect storm of calculated
gestures of goodwill for the victims of the storm. Intended to serve as
Money From Misery 1 “charity” and cast a positive light on the alcohol industry, Anheuser-Busch’s
IN THIS ISSUE

charitable efforts took its predatory practices to a new low.

The Alcohol Industry’s 1
Convenient Solution: After Hurricane Katrina had passed, storm victims were left without many basic
Parents necessities, including fresh water. Enter Anheuser-Busch to act the savior. It
rushed to produce nearly 2.5 millions cans of fresh drinking water, packaged in
Victory! Bad Beer Ads 3 beer-shaped cans that prominently feature the Anheuser-Busch name and logo.
Come Down The company donated $1 million to the Red Cross and even made its fleet of
trucks available to the charity for deliveries of food, supplies,
Latest Research: 4 and power generators. Other alcohol industry players, such C O N T I N U E D O N PAGE 7

- New Research to
Spark Action Against
Alcohol Ads The Alcohol Industry’s
- Harvard Highlights
Campus/Community
g
Convenient Solution: Parents
Action
atchdo
W Parenting is already a tough job. Widespread availability and
- Minimum Prices aggressive promotion of alcohol makes that job even harder. Yet the
Help Reduce Consumption
alcohol industry consistently shifts the responsibility for underage
Thumbs Up/Down 5 drinking to parents in a transparent attempt to keep the spotlight off the
concrete things the industry could be doing to reduce the accessibility and appeal
Quick Stats 6 of its products to youth.

Budweiser’s Super 6 When it comes to drinking, the alcohol industry's answer to the problem requires
Bowl Beer Ads Fuel very little from those who produce, distribute and sell alcoholic beverages.
Underage Drinking Bolstered by its own polls in which young people identify parents as the greatest
influence on their decisions about drinking, the industry is plugging parents as its
Marin Institute 6 preferred solution. Anheuser-Busch brushed the dust off its “Family Talk”
Moves Forward
materials; Coors is partnering with the Search Institute’s
With New Leadership C O N T I N U E D O N PAGE 3

w w w.MarinInstitute.org A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E M A R I N I N S T I T U T E
 Oakland’s Answer:
Community Collaboration
Late last year, the City of Oakland, California, was confronted with several alcohol-related
controversies, ranging from vandalism at liquor stores to complaints about a giant alcohol billboard ad.
While other cities have faced similar situations, the community’s response highlights how Oakland is using a
unique and collaborative approach to address alcohol-related concerns.

Oakland made national headlines in November when several of the city’s Muslim-owned liquor stores were looted
and vandalized by men dressed as Nation of Islam followers. The vandals were caught on camera confronting store
managers, demanding a stop to liquor sales, then destroying bottles, shelves, and display cases containing alcohol.
While the perpetrators were arrested for their violent approach to reducing alcohol sales, public frustration over the
negative impact of widespread alcohol sales is not isolated to this incident. Members of the newly formed Muslims
for Healthy Communities recently spoke out about the growing concern around liquor stores. “It was the flash
point,” said Faheem Shuaibe, resident imam of the Masjidul Waritheen mosque in East Oakland. “It was the right
intent, but simply done in the wrong way.”1

City officials have been working with other local residents for several years to address concerns around problem
stores. Under the direction of the Neighborhood Law Corps, Oakland’s innovative community law program, the
city is bringing its liquor stores into compliance with current operating codes. Already, the city has imposed
dozens of new operating conditions on local stores to reduce nuisance and crime in hard hit areas. Local officials
are also planning to study the impact of the federal Small Business Administration’s lending practices to liquor
stores, which has been implicated in keeping problems stores in business.

Oakland’s second major controversy involved an alcohol billboard placed on the side of a hangar at the Oakland
Airport. The Tanqueray gin ad, which featured a well-coiffed African-American man with a martini, not only
violated the city’s ban on billboard ads but, as many residents
complained, it greeted visitors with an unflattering image of the
city. Prompted by public concern, city officials worked with the Port
of Oakland Commission—which manages advertising at the
Airport—to change its policy to prohibit alcohol ads on billboards.
This change brought the Port of Oakland in line with the rest of the
city, which banned alcohol and tobacco advertising on billboards in
1998.

Oakland’s response to these controversies reflects the unique degree

of collaboration between government, advocacy groups, and
community residents. Most impressive, though, is the continued
commitment by all stakeholders—residents, advocates, and city
officials—to work together to solve the range of alcohol-related
problems in the city.

1. “Oakland Muslims shouldn't sell liquor, group says”, San Francisco Chronicle,
January 29, 2005.

The Oakland community is working together to address problems surrounding liquor stores and
other areas of concern.

2
 INDUSTRY’S SOLUTION C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1

“Most Valuable Parent” program; Miller’s “Let’s Keep Talking” is

supposed to help Mom and Dad discuss responsible choices with their
children; and the Century Council’s “Girl Talk: Choices and
Consequences of Underage Drinking” targets mothers of teenage girls.

The same folks These programs all emphasize a common

tactic—talk. If you are a parent, you are
telling parents supposed to talk to your child, and possibly to
to talk to their other parents, about underage drinking. Talking
to your kids is a good thing, just like designating
children about a driver. But none of these industry Web sites or
drinking are brochures suggests that parents get involved in
community level action to reduce alcohol-related
busy marketing risk for young people in general. There’s no
sweet, fizzy information about policy changes—increased
alcohol taxes or reduced availability—that can
alcopops. reduce underage drinking. They say nothing
about working to limit young people’s exposure
to alcohol advertising either at home or in the community at large.
Programs like “Prevent, Don’t Provide” from Anheuser-Busch
In other words, there’s nothing that would require the alcohol industry help the alcohol industry shift attention away from its own
practices and onto parents.
to change the way it produces, distributes or sells its products. Nothing
that might reduce its profits that are tied to underage youth who consume 20 percent of all alcohol. That’s why the
same folks telling parents to talk to their children about drinking are busy marketing the sweet, fizzy alcopops that have
quickly become the alcoholic beverage of choice among teen girls.

Watchdo
g Victory! Bad Beer Ads Come Down
Action by Marin Institute and others helped convince Anheuser-Busch to take down all of its Bud Light
billboards across the country that showed a young man riding a jet ski against the backdrop of a giant bottle
of Bud Light. This followed a complaint we sent to the Federal Trade Commission asserting that the billboard
violated the Beer Institute code prohibiting ads that “associate or portray beer drinking before or during activities which
require a high degree of alertness or coordination.” Anheuser-Busch refused prior
requests from state water safety agencies in both Oregon
and Minnesota to remove similar billboards
there. Public outrage about the irresponsible
promotion was revived last summer when a
young Oregon man was killed in an alcohol-
related boating tragedy. Following this
incident, and pressure from the Oregon
Partnership, Anheuser-Busch took down
some jet ski billboards in that state. We’re
glad that it was continued pressure, not
more deaths, which convinced the beer
giant to bring down the dangerous
billboards nationwide. Anheuser-Busch took down billboards like this across the country following pressure from Oregon
Partnership, Marin Institute and others.

w w w.MarinInstitute.org A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E M A R I N I N S T I T U T E 3
RESEARCH
New Research Should
Spark Action to Reduce
Alcohol Ads
“Effects of Alcohol Advertising Exposure on Drinking Among Youth,” Leslie B. Snyder, Ph.D.; Frances Fleming
Milici, Ph.D.; Michael Slater, Ph.D.; Helen Sun, M.A.; Yuliya Strizhakova, Ph.D., Archives of Pediatrics and
Adolescent Medicine, 160(1): 18-24, 2006.

New groundbreaking research from the University of Connecticut documenting a strong link between
alcohol ads and youth drinking could be the spark that gets more parents involved in collective efforts that
will limit youth exposure to alcohol promotion.

This first-ever national longitudinal survey of youth aged 15-26 found that
when alcohol companies spend more advertising dollars in a certain media
market, youth who live in that market drink more and exhibit steeper
increases in the amount they drink over time. Also, youth who report
exposure to more alcohol ads drank more than those who saw fewer ads.
Sadly, this suggests that even the most media savvy and engaged parents can’t
completely protect their kids from the harm of alcohol promotions that
saturate the community-at-large.

Supporting community-wide efforts to limit exposure of young people to alcohol advertising is an

essential part of any solution. Keeping alcohol billboards away from parks and schools, finding alternative
LATEST

sponsors for community fairs and festivals and pressuring the NCAA to eliminate alcohol ads from
college sports broadcasts are a few ways to clean-up an environment that is polluted with too many ads for
booze. Fortunately, this new research will help parents and others make the case for curtailing alcohol
promotions.

Harvard Highlights Campus/

Community Solutions
“Reducing Drinking and Related Harms in College: Evaluation of the “A Matter of Degree’ Program,” Elissa R.
Weitzman, Sc.D.; Toben F. Nelson, M.S.; Hang Lee, Ph.D., Henry Wechsler, Ph.D., American Journal of
Preventive Medicine, 27(3): 187-195, 2006.

A new Harvard study confirms that community-based environmental

approaches, including policies focused on access and promotion, are the most
effective way to prevent alcohol problems on college campuses.1 The report by
researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) College Alcohol
Study (CAS) concluded that schools that fully implemented the “A Matter of
Degree” (AMOD) program prevented binge drinking and drinking-driving more
effectively than institutions relying on alcohol programs that only educated
individuals.

HSPH researchers compared the use of the AMOD approach with “social C O N T I N U E D O N N E X T PA G E N

4
L AT E S T R E S E A R C H C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 4
norms” marketing, a type of individual-prevention
activity adopted by many colleges in recent years that
aims to convince students to drink less by showing
that their peers drink less than is widely assumed.
The nonconfrontational tone of social norms
marketing messages, such as “Most students have five
or fewer drinks when they party,” makes this a
tempting approach for students, administrators and
even alcohol companies like Anheuser-Busch that
heavily finance individual-prevention programs.
But social norms marketing has largely proved
ineffective in alcohol-saturated environments, earlier
CAS research showed.2 Instead, combining policies
and actions—such as bartender training in denying
service to intoxicated patrons and in administering
proper ID checks; keg registration; upholding
stringent drinking-age laws; and banning alcohol-
related items from student bookstores—is much more
effective in reducing alcohol problems.
Minimum Prices
Help Reduce
Consumption
“Alcohol Prices, Beverage Quality and the Demand for
Alcohol: Quality Substitutions and Price Elasticities,”
Paul J. Gruenewald, Ph.D.; Raul Caetano, M.D.,
M.P.H., Ph.D., Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental
Research, 30(1):96-105, 2006.
Research has long shown that when alcohol becomes
more expensive, consumption and the resulting
problems are reduced. Yet, this new study finds that
because of the complex nature of the alcohol market,
setting minimum prices for various beverage types
can be more effective in reducing consumption than
simply increasing prices through taxation. That’s
because producers and retailers can offer the impact
of a tax increase by lowering prices. These results
suggest that public policy makers should consider
minimum price posting as a tool for reducing the
negative consequences caused by drinking.
1. www.marininstitute.org/about_us/press_releases_080805.htm
2. www.hsph.harvard.edu/cas/Documents/social_norms-pressRelease
w w w.MarinInstitute.org
Thumbs Up...
to Brown Jug, the largest chain of
liquor stores in Alaska, for their
innovative approach to deter
underage drinking. The company not
only seizes fake IDs from anyone under 21 who
attempts to buy alcohol from one of their stores,
they also pursue a $1,000 civil award from each
young violator. To encourage vigilance, Brown
Jug offers bonuses to employees who spot the
fake IDs.
Thumbs Down…
to Anheuser-Busch spokesperson
Francine Katz who asserted that her
company's promotion of “Bud Pong”
does not encourage binge drinking
because the official rules call for using water,
not beer. “Beer pong”—where players make the
other team drink by tossing a ping pong ball
into their cup of beer—is a popular high school
and college drinking game. Yet, the world's
largest beer maker professed surprise that some
players were using beer instead of water.
Anheuser-Busch eventually withdrew the game
in response to criticism.
Thumbs Down…
to Anheuser-Busch for using a
Harvard professor to promote the
health benefits of beer drinking.
Brewers are prohibited from making
health claims in ads, so they need others, such
as Meir Stampfer of the Harvard School of
Public Health, to do their dirty work. Anheuser-
Busch, which contributed $150,000 to the
school, sponsored events where Stampfer touted
the health benefits of moderate drinking.
Following coverage in the Wall Street Journal
and outcry from the public health community,
Stampfer discontinued speaking at the brewer’s
events.
A P U B L I C A TION OF THE MARIN INSTITUTE 5
 Television ads for alcohol products
outnumber “responsibility”
messages by 32 to one. - Center on
Alcohol Marketing and Youth, 2001-2003
QUICK STATS
From 2001 to 2003, the industry spent
$2.5 billion on television product
advertising, dwarfing the $92 million
spent on responsibility programs by 27
to one. - Center on Alcohol Marketing and
Youth, 2001-2003
In the same period, youth aged 12-20
were 96 times more likely to see a
television ad for an alcohol product than
an ad about the risks of underage
drinking. - Center on Alcohol Marketing
and Youth, 2001-2003
Research has shown that among young
viewers aged 16-22, industry
responsibility messages are considered
less informative, less believable, and less
effective than independent public service
messages. - Alcohol Research and Health,
2002
Check out our free fact sheets at
www.MarinInstitute.org/alcohol_industry/f
acts.htm
Watchdo
gBudweiser’s
Super Bowl
Beer Ads Fuel
Underage Drinking
Anheuser-Busch recklessly fueled this nation’s
underage drinking epidemic by exposing the young
viewers of February’s Super Bowl XL broadcast—the
largest youth TV audience of the year—to more ads
for beer than any other product. New research,
published last month in the American Medical
Association’s Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent
Medicine, shows that the more young people are
6
exposed to alcohol advertising, the more likely they are to
drink.
The world’s biggest brewer spent roughly $25 million to
buy 10 ads for Bud, Bud Light and Michelob during the
Super Bowl, when an estimated 25 million underage
youth, including seven million under 12, were watching.
Using animals in beer ads, like the baby Clydesdale,
sheep and bear in Bud and Bud Light ‘s Super Bowl
commercials, makes the brands popular among youth,
according to research. A study published last fall in the
Journal of Health Communication found that youth 10–17
years old prefer beer ads with humor, music, and animal
characters, and are more likely to say such commercials
make them want to buy the beer advertised. “Using a
baby Clydesdale to sell beer to kids is like using Joe
Camel to sell them cigarettes,” said Amon Rappaport,
Marin Institute’s Communications Director in a New York
Times story on the issue. “It looks like Anheuser-Busch
finds inspiration for its TV commercials in kids’ story
books.”
Not surprisingly, a poll conducted just after this year’s
Super Bowl found that the four favorite ads among
viewers under 17 years old were Bud and Bud Light
commercials.
Marin Moves Forward
with New Leadership
Prompted by family health concerns, Mark Pertschuk
resigned as Executive Director of the Marin Institute in
December. Mark’s decision comes following three years
of rebuilding and planning, and we are proud that the
Institute today has a talented and committed staff poised
to build on the accomplishments of these three years and
to move forward in the future. We have reemerged as a
leading watchdog and opponent of the alcohol industry,
creating effective national and local media advocacy
campaigns and exposing the worst of the industry’s
practices.
Interim Executive Director Chuck Greene, a talented and
capable administrator, is keeping operations running
smoothly and leading the search for a permanent
Executive Director. We thank you for your support of the
Marin Institute as we embrace a new year and a new
chapter in our work.
 MONEY FROM M I S E R Y C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1

as the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, also got in

on the act by donating water, goods, or money.

Such generosity might appear to be goodwill and genuine

concern for hurricane survivors. In reality, such actions are
always designed to serve the long-term interests of the alcohol
industry. Creating goodwill by packaging water in Budweiser
beer cans—delivered in Budweiser trucks—is just another
example of how the alcohol industry exploits vulnerable people
to pad its bottom line. This strategy is most apparent in times of
disaster, when victims often turn to substances like alcohol to
cope with stress. Such demand was plainly obvious in
Mississippi, where at least one store was
Anheuser- reported to have sold out of beer and cigarettes
before milk and chips. According to Sharron
Busch's Ayers, recently retired Executive Director of the
Louisiana Coalition to Prevent Underage
charitable Drinking, “Alcohol sales are soaring across the
efforts took state. Beer was one of the first things that ran
out at stores after the storm. But no one is
its predatory paying attention to it; there’s not enough
practices to money to adequately deal with alcohol issues
in times of crisis.” Anheuser-Busch put its logo on drinking water it packaged in
a new low. beer-shaped cans (bottom left and above) which it delivered to
Katrina victims in Budweiser trucks (below).
The alcohol industry showed its true colors
in the months following the storm, when local, state, and
national lawmakers were focused on caring for survivors
and rebuilding destroyed communities. The industry
began working to roll back state and local alcohol
regulations, for example trying to give special tax breaks to
local liquor stores and other businesses in hurricane-
affected areas. Hurricane
area residents were
fortunate that the
industry’s pockets didn’t
go deep enough to buy off
legislators on this issue.
But the alcohol industry’s
power was reflected in the
comments of one
Congressman who voted
against them—but was nonetheless careful to explain that his position was “due to
his opposition to gambling, not any animus towards Anheuser-Busch.”

Although corporate charity during a disaster is not new, what is troubling is the way
the alcohol industry has used a disaster of this magnitude to advance its own
agenda. Anheuser-Busch and other big alcohol companies should be reminded that
true charity is about giving to those less fortunate—even without recognition—not
benefiting from them.

w w w.MarinInstitute.org A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E M A R I N I N S T I T U T E 7