Beer Marketer's Insights
New Study Supports Lower BAC Limits
With an .08 mandate going to a House-Senate Conference committee as INSIGHTS goes to press, this study comes at a bad time. While the vast majority of drunk driving deaths involve BAC's of .15 or higher, and a just-published National Transportation Safety Board report advises states to target "hard core drinking drivers," advocates will likely seize on the support for .08 (and lower BAC limits) that this study provides. Read the lead statement: "We now have overwhelming evidence showing that even blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels as low as 0.02% impair driving-related skills." This is, the authors stated, the first study that "systematically estimated relative risk for drink-drivers with BAC
Another Myth Exposed: "Beverage Preferences...Not Directly Associated With Drinking and Driving"
The belief that drinking and driving is more a beer than wine or liquor problem is almost a given among policy advocates, politicians and even some in the alcohol beverage industry. Yet a recent study found that "beer preferences were not directly related to either" driving after drinking or driving after having had too much to drink. "Self-reported drinking after driving incidents were unrelated to beverage prefer-
ences," the authors found, "when respondents were equated on demographic measures, drinking patterns and drinking venues."
This finding challenges the dubious "cultural" theory that beer drinkers are the most likely to drink and drive because of media portrayals that link beer with athletic prowess and other physical activity. As a result of these portrayals, the theory goes, beer drinkers "may take more lightly the decision to drive after drinking." (This was precisely the basis of the infamous "Myths, Men and Beer" monograph from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety back in 1987. It argued beer ads should be banned because they somehow "promote" drinking and driving.) But this theory "receives little support in the current study
Alcohol Use Among US High School Students Low But Pot Use High Compared To Other Countries
While many politicians, education officials and policy advocates believe that alcohol use among high school students in the US is out of control, a recent cross-cultural survey of 36 different countries found alcohol use among US high school students is quite low compared to many other countries. In fact, the percent of US high school students
Recently revised Dietary Guidelines for Americans still include: "If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation. " Also intact: "Drinking in moderation may lower the risk for coronary disease," but the revised version now goes on to specify that the potential benefits are found "mainly among men over age 45 and women over age 55." Another addition: the guidelines now point out that "however, there are other factors that reduce the risk of heart disease" including exercise, healthy diet, not smoking and maintaining a healthy weight. As in the past, Wine Institute embraced the guidelines, and recommended they be "brought to the attention of the American public in the widest manner." In fact, Wine Institute just granted $150,000 to the National Stroke Association to distribute copies of the guidelines.
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The NCSLA (national conference of state liquor administrators) recently approved resolutions favoring a 3d-party review system for all alcohol beverage advertising and a uniform ad code for beer, wine and spirits. Recall that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had recommended 3d-party review in its report on industry advertising last year, and that the National Association of Attorneys General also approved a pro-3d-party review resolution in March. Coors Brewing, Brown-Forman and UDV have notified FTC that each will move to develop a 3d-party review system, FTC attorney Janet Evans said on a panel at the NCSLA meeting. She said many alcohol companies "do a really good job" with responsible advertising, but cautioned they could do better. While most companies hold themselves to a requirement that less than 50% of their target audience be underage, Janet added, "some are real close to line" in targeting those under 21. One unnamed company recently notified FTC that it was voluntarily lowering its target to 30% or less underage consumers. Another told FTC it was trying to target ads to those 25 and over to avoid such problems.
On the same NCSLA panel, Steve Gross, Director of Government Relations for the Wine Institute, said that the wine industry is working to make wine ad codes more specific, but has not made a decision on 3d-party review. "We are keeping an open mind on this. We've yet to receive compelling evidence that there is a model out there currently for 3d-party review that is ideal," said Steve. DISCUS vp Lynne Omlie praised the FTC report for treating all alcohol beverages "the same." She used her time on the panel to hammer away for equivalence. Lynne said equivalence was a "critical aspect" for the spirits industry to agree to 3d-party review. All media must treat all alcohol beverages in the same manner, she said, but reminded that at present major networks continue to reject spirits ads. Steve Gross retorted that the FTC report did not address the equivalency issue or how to consolidate ad codes of the beer, wine and spirits producers. In fact, there's not been much discussion among industry members about a uniform ad code. Given disagreements over equivalence and other issues, the creation of such a code doesn't appear to be likely.
In recent years, New Zealand newly permitted broadcast advertising of alcohol beverages, lowered the minimum purchase age and adopted some new rules that required photo licenses, increased fines for sales to minors and stricter host responsibility guidelines. These changes were part of a ten-year policy shift toward a more flexible approach to alcohol control, one that stressed host responsibility as opposed to tight restrictions on sales. It included measures that required service of food, availability of non-alcoholic beverages, responsible service techniques, restriction of sales to minors and intoxicated patrons, and provisions for safe transportation. What happened? The reforms resulted in a sharp increase in the number of outlets: the number of on-premise establishments increased from 2,423 to 6,219; the number of off-premise establishments increased from 1,675 to 3,842. Yet per capita consumption in New Zealand continued to decline at about the same pace that it had for the previous 10 years: it was down about 15% from 1988 to 1998. Jennifer Harris, from the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand, presented this information at a recent meeting of the Hospitality Resource Panel (HRP) Training Institute. She told the group that the reforms created "more public space for socializing, integrating the drinker with the non-drinker and providing the consumer with more choices."
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"Regular consumers of alcohol, including those drinking above and below the USDA recommended limits" of a drink per day for women, 2 per day for men, "had a significantly lower risk of Alzheimer
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Not every speaker at Alcohol Policy XII resisted the opportunity to attack the industry. Long-time activist/attorney/policy analyst Jim Mosher of the Marin Institute cranked up the anti-industry rhetoric during one general session and several workshops. Addressing the entire group, Mosher cleverly wove the story of an alcohol-related 1983 car crash and passenger death into his pitch for the public health approach to reduce alcohol problems. Mosher
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In marked contrast to the previous 11 Alcohol Policy meetings of mostly public health advocates, this year