What now? Industry members are not publicly celebrating the final dismissal/withdrawal of all of the attempted class action suits for alleged targeting of youth in ads/marketing. And the mainstream media has not even noted the suits' passing, despite the flurry of attention they drew when filed. But brewers, distillers, Beer Institute and others have to be quietly relieved/joyous that not one judge bought any of the arguments brought by plaintiffs' attorneys in seeking billions in "unlawful" sales/profits and an order to halt "abusive" marketing practices. In retrospect, the suits appear to have been nothing more than a roll of the dice by the plaintiffs to open a huge discovery proceeding in hopes of uncovering some "smoking gun"-type documents. They failed miserably.
The lawsuits' inability to get any traction in numerous jurisdictions - recall that most were dismissed "with prejudice" and with strong language rejecting the suits' claims, language and logic -- should act as a deterrent to similar attempts. (The added deterrent of potentially having to pay the industry's legal fees will not apply. A petition for those fees was withdrawn in the Colorado case.) But given the advocates' fierce anti-marketing attitudes and their reliance on the slim science that suggests a link between industry ads and teen drinking, another legal "theory" may yet emerge down the road. Then too, the advocates can boast at least one supporter in the current Presidential campaign. John Edwards told Common Sense Media recently that "One of my biggest concerns [about the media's impact on kids] is the amount of alcohol advertising our kids see
As Class Actions Disappear, Some Questions Answered, But Issue Likely to Stay Alive
Publishing Info
- Newsletter: Alcohol Issues Insights
- Published: 12/14/2007
- Volume: 24
- Issue #: 12