The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence fights the stigma and the disease of alcoholism and other drug addictions.

NCADD Action Alert

Members of Congress Asked to Sign onto "Dear Colleague" that Letter Calls for Congressional Hearing on the Impact of Television Alcohol Advertising on Children

AUGUST 8, 2002

The alcoholic-beverage industry’s voluntary advertising standards do little to prevent the routine targeting of massive underage television audiences with hip, funny, seductive promotions to drink, according to a recent poll conducted for the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). CSPI’s poll found that most 12- to 18-year olds (77%) regularly see and recall alcohol ads aired after 9:00pm on school nights, including commercials for liquor-branded "alcopops" such as Bacardi Silver, Smirnoff Ice, Captain Morgan Gold, and Skyy Blue. The poll further found that teens think commercials for liquor-branded "alcopops" are ads for hard liquor. Moreover, the number and frequency of alcohol ads reaching young people on TV is rapidly expanding due to several developments: Diageo’s recently announced new strategy to sidestep the networks and increase broadcast liquor ads by creating its own "unwired" network (which will reportedly cover 80% of the country); Large proposed TV advertising budgets (up to $450 million this year) for the growing number of new, liquor-branded "alcopops" or "malternatives" (such as Smirnoff Ice, Bacardi Silver, Captain Morgan Gold, Skyy Blue, etc.) which promote liquor brands to underage youth under the same weak voluntary advertising standards as beer; and, The continuing aggressive advertising (more than $700 million in 2000) for beer that regularly reaches millions of underage people. Popular, glitzy, funny, hip, and memorable beer commercials provide a primary – and extremely powerful – source of "education" for young people about alcohol.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Call, fax, email or visit your Representative or their staff. The Capitol Hill Switchboard is 202/224-3121; your Representative's Hill staff can direct you to your local district office to set up a meeting and to send correspondence directly to your Member at the district office. You can also look up your Member's contact information on the House website www.house.gov. Please either write to your Representative’s DISTRICT office, or fax their Washington office with your request. Remember, due to tightened mail security procedures, letters sent to Washington offices take 6 weeks to be delivered, which will miss the August 31 deadline. Ask your Representative to sign on to the "Dear Colleague" letter being circulated by Representatives Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and Frank Wolf (R-VA). The letter calls for the House Energy and Commerce Committee to schedule a Congressional hearing to examine the impact of television alcohol advertising on underage youth, and the adequacy of voluntary advertising standards in minimizing youth exposure to such promotions. The deadline to sign on to the letter is August 31, 2002. A sample letter is provided below. For additonal information: View "Dear Colleague" Letter (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) Contact the NCADD Policy Office Visit the Center for Science in the Public Interest's online Liquor-Branded Advertising Information Center Contact Kim Miller, Manager of Federal Relations for the Center for Science in the Public Interest Alcohol Policies Project at (202/332-9110, ext. 338).

SAMPLE LETTER

The Honorable [FULL NAME OF REPRESENTATIVE] [ADDRESS TO DISTRICT OFFICE OR SEND VIA FAX] Dear Representative [INSERT LAST NAME]: I am writing to urge you to sign on to a bi-partisan "Dear Colleague" letter being circulated by Representatives Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and Frank Wolf (R-VA) asking that the House Energy and Commerce Committee schedule a Congressional hearing to examine the impact of television alcohol advertising on underage youth. Despite NBC’s welcome decision not to begin airing hard liquor ads, a massive influx of ads for a new crop of liquor-branded "alcopops" – sweetened youth-oriented malt-beverages such as Smirnoff Ice, Bacardi Silver, and Skyy Blue – are sneaking liquor brands before massive audiences of underage youth on network television. A recent study found that kids think those commercials are ads for hard-liquor products. Producers plan to spend some $450 million on such commercials in the coming year – more than a 30% increase in the total amount spent on alcohol ads on television. NBC’s action on hard liquor ads highlighted the need for tougher standards on all televised alcohol advertising to reduce youth exposure to commercials that glamorize and promote drinking in the powerful broadcast media. The present weak voluntary advertising standards for beer ads – which apparently also apply to the new liquor-branded "alcopops" – allow HALF the audience to be underage! Underage drinking and its harms are widespread. On average, young people begin drinking at 13.1 years of age. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, those who begin by age 15 are four times as likely to become alcohol dependent than those who wait until age 21. Alcohol is a factor in the four leading causes of death among persons ages 10 to 24: motor-vehicle crashes, unintentional injuries, homicide, and suicide. Underage drinking costs Americans some $53 billion annually. Congress should be taking a serious look at this issue and exploring possible remedies to better protect underage youth and other vulnerable populations from a steady onslaught of televised inducements to drink. I hope you will join your colleagues in urging the Energy and Commerce Committee to examine the adequacy of the alcoholic-beverage industry’s voluntary advertising standards in ensuring that alcoholic beverage ads are clearly and unambiguously directed to adult consumers of legal drinking age. The deadline to sign on to the letter is August 31, 2002. Please contact Ellen Riddleberger in Representative Roybal-Allard’s office (202/225-1766) for further information or to sign on to the letter. Thank you in advance for your consideration. Please let me know if you will be able to join in this important effort. Sincerely, [Insert your name, your organization name (if applicable) and address]

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.

244 East 58th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10022 phone: 212/269-7797   fax: 212/269-7510 email: national@ncadd.org   http://www.ncadd.org HOPE LINE: 800/NCA-CALL (24-hour Affiliate referral)