DISQUS

2Hotel9 · 3 years ago

I have an idea. Lets put in place a"prohibition" on the production and sale of alcohol. That will do it!

Mark · 3 years ago

Yes, 2H9, I'm surprised no-one's thought of that before... :).

What I have always found baffling (coming from a country where the age limit is significantly lower) is the 21 age for drinking. Several years ago, I went to stay in the US with some friends who I had studied with at college here in the UK. I had just turned 21, so I was OK (although I had to produce my British passport in bars) - but my friends (all rational adults, capable of making decisions for themselves) had to stick to soft drinks.

More importantly, when we were on their college campus, I saw no evidence that a 21 ban was being observed, let alone the least bit effective, and equally the fact that drinking alcohol was illegal (and therefore a bit 'dangerous') only seemed to make it more of a rebellious, youthful thing to do.

LoadTheMule · 3 years ago

Lemme see if I've got this right, Don. The problem isn't that underage kids are getting (and consuming) liquor; it's that the liquor companies are 'targeting' them in their advertising?

Get a fucking grip.

Regards...

Don Myers · 3 years ago

The problem isn't booze advertising---it's booze advertising aimed at minors, who are a fairly big market for the booze industry.

Though the outcry directed at alcohol advertisers usually is concerned with the persuasive capabilities of advertising, more focused criticisms include the alleged targeting of underage drinkers through the use of appealing image advertising. [source]

The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown released a study Tuesday reporting that alcohol companies were reaching America's youths with advertising more effectively than they were with adults. [source]

Don Myers · 3 years ago

Load:


Rob's post was about booze advertising, not booze consumers---and that's what my comment was about.

Learn to read, loser.

Tony B · 3 years ago

In WI, at least, minors are allowed to drink with their parents present.

modern instances · 3 years ago

[W]e should encourage better parenting or . . . remove booze from its status as the rebellion drug of choice for America's kids by decriminalizing its use for them.

Amen. Better that a kid learn to drink with their parents around than lose their minds freshman year of college.

A bigger crock is that the federal government imposes a national drinking age by blackmailing the states with highway dollars.

Sigivald · 3 years ago

Don: That study you link to does not appear to support your conclusion about ads being aimed at underage persons.

What percentage, by the way, is "fairly large"?

(Please remember that "reaching minors more effectively than adults" does not mean "is targeting minors". It means... minors are more easily swayed than adults, especially since adults already have brand preferences, while a not-yet-drinking minor doesn't.)

(And here's a great one from the second link: "The study defined a youth-oriented magazine, however, as one with an under-21 readership of 15.8 percent" ... So it's evil marketing at the underage if the magazine's readership is ... less than 84.2% adults?

And then "The study fell short of directly accusing the alcohol industry of purposely targeting minors". So, evidently, even the activists don't claim, as you do, that the alcohol industry is advertising to the underage market.)

FreeRepublicans.com · 3 years ago

The other day I heard a PSA against "buzzed driving."

At that time a quote came to mind:

"Scotch Scotch Scotch I love Scotch." - Ron Burgundy

Rob · 3 years ago

A bigger crock is that the federal government imposes a national drinking age by blackmailing the states with highway dollars.

So much for state sovereignity, eh?

modern instances · 3 years ago

Alcohol is not addictive in the sense that nicotine is.

Whew, I can finally stop going to those damn AA meetings! "Step" this!

Sherard · 3 years ago

This is ridiculous. And sorry, Don, but the simple fact that they use "appealing image advertising" means they are targeting minors is amazingly weak.

Kids drink. That is a simple fact of life. You can pretend otherwise, but by the time they are 13 or 14, they are attending parties where alcohol is being served, or they are getting it themselves.

Differences between alcohol and cigarettes are numerous. Alcohol is not addictive in the sense that nicotine is. Cigarettes don't get you drunk like alcohol does. Alcohol advertising might suffer the same fate, but drinking will not. Ever. Unless other drugs are legalized. Then, maybe.

Carrick · 3 years ago

Tony B:

In WI, at least, minors are allowed to drink with their parents present.

I think that this is true in most states.

Here's a summary of the pertinent law:

The drinking age is 21 in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. All states prohibit adults from purchasing alcohol for minors or furnishing it to them, though most make exceptions for children partaking in religious ceremonies and those given alcohol in non-intoxicating amounts by parents in private homes.

When it comes to underage drinking parties, many counties, cities and towns adopted zero-tolerance policies for youth possession and consumption years ago. Social host laws widen the scope of enforcement to make parents responsible when they allow minors to possess or consume alcohol.

An adult can face probation, steep fines and jail time and can be sued for damages caused by minors who drank under the adult's supervision.

Note this makes the supervising adult liable if he/she allowed a minor to become intoxicated and that minor then caused bodily harm or physical damage to third parties.

More Than Loans: About Time Th · 3 years ago

[...] About Time This Fucker Gets His Comuppance H/T: Rob at Say Anything, who treats this with a bit more seriousness than I.Everyone remember the argument from the nineties that Joe Camel was actually the anti-Christ? This evil character is the one who made me start smoking. I had thought it was just poor decision making on my part, but selfless activists who make a meager living as attorneys showed me the light. It wasn't my fault at all. It was the ads.Now thankfully, we are getting some of the same activism targeting the evil brewers of the world. [...]