[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 12 (Tuesday, February 12, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H233-H235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             NBC LIQUOR AND ADVERTISEMENTS ON THE OLYMPICS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Culberson). Pursuant to the order of the 
House of January 23, 2002, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, as many know, NBC recently announced its 
decision to begin airing hard liquor advertisements. This decision 
abruptly terminates over 50 years of corporate responsibility and 
effective self-regulation.
  Now more troubling is that NBC is not even abiding strictly to its 
own guidelines. For instance, NBC has promised that they will not 
extend their decision to advertising hard liquor on the Olympics. Well, 
as this recent article from USA Today says, and I will submit for the 
Record, they are skating on thin ice.
  Mr. Speaker, NBC plans to allow the advertisement of products such as 
Bacardi Silver. Yes, the Olympics, perhaps one of the most youth-
oriented sporting events ever, will have promotions for Bacardi Silver 
and other alcohol advertisements.
  Technically, Bacardi Silver is not a distilled spirit since its 
alcohol content is approximately that of beer; however, we all know the 
reality of such an advertising tactic. Bacardi is a name people 
associate with hard liquor, period. Simply put, this appears to be a 
subterfuge to actually market hard liquor. NBC is allowing direct 
marketing to youth of a well-known brand of hard liquor by piggybacking 
onto another product.
  This is outrageous. For all the protestations by NBC about their 
responsible policy of alcohol advertising, it is

[[Page H234]]

a sham. Young people, 13-, 14-, 15-year-olds, will be watching the 
Olympics and see the ads for products such as Bacardi Silver. Does 
anyone responsible think there will not be any association?
  We are just now making progress with regard to dealing with drunk 
driving by young people.
  The Center on Alcohol Advertising conducted a pilot study that 
demonstrates beer commercials and attendant brands were recognizable by 
children as young as 9 to 11. That is the exact type of advertisements 
we are talking about for the Olympics.
  What will the consequences of this policy be? In short, more young 
people drinking will result in increases in drunk driving, teen deaths 
and alcoholism. Alcohol is a factor in the four leading causes of death 
among persons age 10 through 24: motor vehicle crashes, unintentional 
injuries, homicide and suicide. Alcohol-related car crashes are the 
leading cause of death among teenagers 15 to 24. Young people who begin 
drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol 
dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21.
  NBC is being irresponsible. NBC will cause the hurt and pain and 
suffering in the families of many, many people in this United States. 
The public has spoken out on this issue, and NBC does not care. The 
National Center for Science in the Public Interest conducted a poll 
that shows 73 percent of the public believes hard liquor advertising 
will increase youth drinking. NBC does not care.
  We are submitting a letter from 25 groups asking NBC to go back to 
the policy that it had for 52 years. I also want to close with an 
article from the Washington Post that illustrates the real consequences 
of drunk driving better than any set of statistics. Just this weekend 
in my congressional district in Sterling, Virginia, a drunk driver 
killed a boy and his grandfather. Mr. Speaker, imagine receiving that 
call from the State police if you were the boy's mother. NBC's hard 
liquor advertising will lead to more drunk driving and more of those 
phone calls.
  I urge Members to speak out on this issue and let NBC know that it 
ought to do what the American people think appropriate. It ought to go 
back to its voluntary guidelines that it had for 50 years and do not 
advertise hard liquor to young people of the country and bring about 
pain and suffering for families.
  The material previously referred to is as follows:

                     [From USA Today, Feb. 5, 2002]

             Marketing by Spirits Makers Gets Icy Reception

                (By Michael McCarthy and Theresa Howard)

       Figure skating won't be the only closely watched 
     competition at the Salt Lake Games. Major marketing pushes by 
     some big beer and spirits makers also may be dancing on thin 
     ice.
       Anheuser-Busch will use the Olympics to roll out a $60 
     million campaign to launch its Bacardi Silver. And Seagram's 
     rum brand, Captain Morgan, will take to the slopes to tout 
     its sponsorship of the U.S. Ski Team.
       Just weeks after Olympics broadcaster NBC eased 
     restrictions on spirits advertising, the debate over 
     alcoholic beverage marketing during the Games is heating up.
       ``The Olympics are a youth-oriented event,'' says Kimberly 
     Miller of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. 
     ``For the Olympic committee to make the connection between 
     drinking and sports is irresponsible.''
       But executives from both A-B and Captain Morgan defend 
     their right to be at the Salt Lake Games.
       ``It's a wonderful opportunity for us,'' says Bob Lachky, 
     vice president of brand management at Anheuser-Busch. ``We'll 
     have a national and international audience.''
       A-B will air more than 130 commercials for its Budweiser, 
     Bud Light, Michelob and Bacardi Silver brands. A-B is the 
     exclusive malt-beverage sponsor and advertiser of the 2002 
     Games and has a seven-year deal with the U.S. Olympic 
     Committee to serve as official beer sponsor of the U.S. 
     Olympic Team.
       The new Bacardi spots from Momentum in St. Louis are music-
     driven and heavily feature the sleek new silver bottle. The 
     theme: ``Your night just got more interesting.''
       But A-B will air most of the Bacardi Silver commercials 
     during the evening to avoid targeting younger consumers. 
     Still, A-B has paid millions for its Olympics sponsorships, 
     and Lachky says the company won't avoid big events to mollify 
     critics.
       ``There's always going to be critics of our industry. But 
     we will do things in a respectful fashion. We're not worried 
     about it,'' He says.
       Captain Morgan is a team sponsor--not a sponsor of the 
     Games themselves. So it's walking an even finer line than 
     Anheuser-Busch, critics say
       ``It's a dangerous marketing tactic,'' says Bob Prazmark, 
     president of Olympic sales and marketing for sports marketing 
     group IMG. ``What they are doing is trying to share in some 
     of the glory.''
       Captain Morgan officials insist they're doing no such 
     thing. Team athletes Evan Dybvig and Shannon Bahrke are 
     restricted from competing or making Olympics appearances 
     while sporting any Captain Morgan-branded gear or apparel.
       ``We can do things tastefully and stay in the guidelines,'' 
     says Captain Morgan's Scott Geisler. ``Do we stand a risk of 
     raising a little controversy? Perhaps.''
                                                 Coalition for the


                               Prevention of Alcohol Problems,

                                 Washington, DC, February 6, 2002.
     Mr. Robert C. Wright,
     Vice Chairman and Executive Officer, General Electric, 
         Chairman and CEO, NBC, New York, NY.
       Dear Mr. Wright: As leaders of organizations concerned with 
     public health and the well being of young people and 
     families, we are dismayed by your decision to begin airing 
     hard liquor ads on NBC, ending five decades of responsible 
     voluntary refusal of such ads.
       We strongly urge you to reconsider NBC's policy and we 
     respectfully request a meeting with you to discuss our 
     concerns, including a number of gross deficiencies in NBC's 
     guidelines governing the airing of liquor ads.
       Too many influences already promote excessive and underage 
     drinking and hard-liquor ads on NBC can only make that 
     problem worse. Alcohol is by far America's number-one youth 
     drug problem. It kills six times more kids than all illicit 
     drugs combined and underage drinking costs our country an 
     estimated $52 billion per year. According to the latest 
     government data, nearly one-third of all 12- to 20-year olds 
     report using alcohol within the past month. Of those youth, 
     nearly 20 percent binge drink.
       We are hardly alone in our concern. NBC's decision to begin 
     accepting hard liquor ads flies squarely in the face of 
     public opinion. A survey conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland 
     Associates, Inc., in mid-December, 2001 found that 68 percent 
     of respondents opposed NBC's action with half (48 percent) 
     registering strong opposition to it. More than 7 of 10 (72 
     percent) surveyed supported network television policies that 
     voluntarily keep liquor ads off TV, and 70 percent of 
     Americans agreed that it is dangerous to have liquor ads on 
     TV because they will introduce underage youth to liquor. 
     Subsequently public opinion surveys by TV Guide and by 
     Initiative Media North America similarly found that large 
     majorities of Americans oppose NBC's acceptance of liquor 
     ads.
       We would like to meet with you at your earliest 
     convenience, preferably in Washington, DC., in the hope of 
     reaching a satisfactory resolution of this issue. We believe 
     that NBC can truly show leadership in protecting young people 
     and serving the public interest. We will follow up with your 
     office in the near future to inquire about arranging a 
     meeting. To reach us, please contact Mr. George Hacker, at 
     (202) 332-9110, x343.
       Thank you for your consideration. We hope to hear from you 
     soon.
           Sincerely,

                                             George A. Hacker,

                                                         Director,
                                         Alcohol Policies Project.
       On behalf of the following: Lori Dorfman, Ph.D., Director, 
     Berkeley Media Studies Group; Arthur T. Dean, Chairman, and 
     CEO, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America; Joan Kiley, 
     Executive Director, Community Recovery Services; Art Jaeger, 
     Associate Director, Consumer Federation of America; Connie 
     Mackey, Vice President of Government Affairs, Family Research 
     Council; Tom Minnery, Vice President of Public Policy, Focus 
     on the Family; Jim Winkler, General Secretary, General Board 
     of church and Society of the United Methodist Church; David 
     Rosenblum, Executive Director, Join Together; Patricia 
     Harmon, Executive Director, Ohio Parents for Drug Free Youth; 
     Judy Cushing, President and CEO, Oregon Partnership; Rev. 
     Jesse W. Brown, Jr., Executive Director, National Association 
     of African Americans for Positive Imagery.
       Bill Burnett, President, National Association of Alcohol 
     and Drug Abuse Counselors; Julie Novak, DNSc, RN, CPNP, 
     President, National Association of Pediatric Nurse 
     Practitioners; Rev. Richard Cizik, Vice-President for 
     Governmental Affairs, National Association of Evangelicals; 
     Vincent Hayden, Chairman, National Black Alcoholism and 
     Addictions Council; Stacia Murphy, President, National 
     Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence; Sue Rusche, 
     Executive Director, National Families in Action; Peggy Sapp, 
     President, National Family Partnership; David A. Walsh, 
     Ph.D., President, National Institute on Media and the Family; 
     Jeanette Noltenius, Executive Director, National Latino 
     Council on alcohol and Tobacco Prevention; Shirley Igo, 
     President, National Parent Teachers Association.
       John Hutcheson, Executive Director, People Advancing 
     Christian Education; William J. Murray, chairman, Religious 
     Freedom Coalition; Richard D. Land, President, Southern 
     Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission; Andrew 
     McGuire, Executive Director, Trauma Foundation; William T. 
     Devlin, President, Urban Family; The Most Rever and Joseph A. 
     Galante, Chairman, Committee on Communications, United States 
     Conference of Catholic Bishops; and Maureen Sedonaen, 
     Executive Director, Youth Leadership Institute.

[[Page H235]]

               [From the Washington Post, Feb. 10, 2002]

                      Crash Kills Two in Sterling

       Two people were killed after a two-car crash involving a 
     drunk driver last night in Sterling, Virginia State Police 
     said.
       The crash happened on Route 28 near Route 625 about 8:30 
     p.m., police said. The victims were believed to be a man in 
     his sixties and a boy.
       One of the drivers was also injured in the crash and was 
     flown to an area hospital, police said.

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