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FinalCall.com News
National News
Center demands halt to marketing beer to young girls
By Jesse Muhammad
Staff Writer
Updated May 14, 2008 - 12:21:00 PM
(FinalCall.com) - Adolescent and teenage girls hardly need further inducements to drink,” says George A. Hacker, of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “Heavy drinking imposes special risks for girls, due to their lower body weights and different metabolisms and the contributing role of alcohol in sexual assaults, date rape, and unwanted and unplanned pregnancies.”
The non-profit center is calling on Miller Brewing Co., Foster’s, and Diageo, the parent company of Guinness, to halt the use of logos for those beers on tee shirts sold at Forever 21, a popular retailer amongst teenage girls. CSPI contends an arrangement between the beer giants and the clothing chain is in direct violation of the beer industry’s voluntary advertising and marketing code. That code, administered by the Beer Institute, states that “No beer identification, including logos, trademarks, or names should be used or licensed for use on clothing, toys, games or game equipment, or other materials intended for use primarily by persons below the legal drinking age.”
CSPI also called on Forever 21 to remove all beer or alcohol-themed t-shirts from its web site and approximately 400 outlets around the nation. In addition to carrying shirts bearing Miller, Foster’s, and Guinness logos, the chain sells shirts that read “Save water, Drink beer,” “I’m awesome at beer pong,” and “Beer is my anti-drug.”
“It’s good to protest the retailer but I think the problem starts at home,” says Alicia Jackson, a parent with four children. “I have two daughters and I wouldn’t dare buy shirts like that for them. If you are going to attack the t-shirt retailers then you have to go after the billboards, commercials, and even video games that have alcoholic suggestions. The fight to save our children is bigger than a t-shirt but I encourage them to go forward with it.”
Fifteen-year-old student Tammi Singleton says “most of the time when my friends buy those type of shirts, they are only supposedly looking at how cute the shirt is with an outfit. But later on they will get offended if someone comments negatively about the shirt. We as young girls need to take more pride in ourselves. Even if you are not an alcoholic, people will label you as one when they see you with one of those shirts on.”
According to its website, Forever 21 is among the top 3 teen shopping brands nationwide. CSPI is forwarding copies of its demands sent to brewers to the Federal Trade Commission, which reportedly has begun applying greater scrutiny to the marketing practices of alcoholic-beverage makers.
In a 2007 report, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the average age when girls first try alcohol is 13 years. By age 14, 41 percent of children have had least one drink and teens who begin drinking before age 15 are five times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21, the report said.
Annually, more than 5,000 deaths of Americans under age 21 are linked to underage drinking. The three leading causes of death for 15- to 24-year-olds are automobile crashes, homicides and suicides—alcohol is a leading factor in all three.
