Alcohol Advertising

The Super Bowl, which will be aired on NBC Feb. 5, is known for its commercials as much as the game itself. About 18 percent of the game and commercial viewers will be youth younger than 21 and will see alcohol related ads.

Alcohol Justice, formerly Marin Institute, in California, has asked for health advocates to make public comments against Phusion Projects, makers of the infamous Four Loko beverages, and its proposed agreement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to discontinue marketing its new “supersized,” re-sealable containers.

When a lead character on the Disney Channel’s newest and one of the most popular TV sitcoms among 6-14 year olds featured a parody of “the most interesting man in the world” Dos Equis beer ad, something about that did not sit right with coalition leader Maureen Campanie.

A new study by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that youth ages 12-20 were more likely per capita than adults to hear 32 percent of alcohol advertising placements.

The NFL Super Bowl is known for its commercials as much as the game itself. Did you know that about 18 percent of the Super Bowl's total viewing audience will be youth under 21, meaning that children and youth will be exposed to the dozens of alcohol-related commercials shown during the Super Bowl? To help shed light on how alcohol advertising impacts youth, the Drug-Free Action Alliance is inviting youth to participate in their Big Bowl Vote 2011, an annual survey open to middle and high school students.

While you're watching the Super Bowl this winter, don't just be a spectator. Be a participant in social norm change and in reducing the number of alcohol ads youth see on TV. Since life is not a spectator sport, the Marin Institute is giving Super Bowl spectators a chance to counter-act the plethora of alcohol ads that air during the broadcast and that contribute to binge and underage drinking.

Four small brewing companies have heeded warnings by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and have agreed to stop shipping their seven alcoholic energy drinks.

The Massachusetts Alcoholics Beverages Control Commission announced that they are banning alcoholic energy drinks, becoming the fifth state to do so. According to Medical News Today, the Commission filed an emergency regulation banning the distribution of these types of drinks and ordering that they be taken off shelves.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned four small brewing companies that the caffeine added to their malt alcoholic beverages is an "unsafe food additive" and said that further action, including seizure of their products, is possible under federal law.

The Associated Press this week reported that there are new concerns about energy drinks produced by a Chicago-based company that combine high levels of caffeine with alcohol. The Food and Drug Administration began investigating these types of beverages a year ago, but a recent Washington state college party is renewing questions about their safety.

The formal invitations were mailed. The vivid gowns altered. The tuxedos rented. The venue reserved. The food and cake ordered. The bouquets arranged. The play list coordinated. The hair and makeup fixed to perfection. The guest of honor nervously trying to remember her waltz steps. Si, this quinceañera is about to debut.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has called for an end to all tobacco ads, limits on alcohol and prescription drug ads, and for the entertainment industry to stop glamorizing smoking and drinking, Join Together reported.

Youth exposure to alcohol advertising in magazines declined by 48 percent between 2001 and 2008, according to a new study by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The Marin Institute reported this week that Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MI), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) have joined forces in a recent letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration calling on the agency to make public its findings from an investigation into possible health risks posed by energy drinks that combine alcohol and caffeine.