Rejecting alcohol advertising and sponsorship to address underage drinking

Every day children are negligently exposed to thousands of images of alcohol products, brands and social situations where alcoholic drinks are consumed. These seductive multi media images help fuel an epidemic of underage drinking that leads to annual health and welfare costs measured in billions of dollars.

Through research, coalition building and media advocacy programs, Marin Institute, a national alcohol industry watchdog, has successfully campaigned for changes in public policy that have resulted in the removal of alcohol advertising and sponsorship from public events, and public transit. This presentation will focus on two of such model campaigns, their design, implementation, and key outcomes. The first campaign led to a County ordinance to permanently ban alcohol industry sponsorship at the local county fair, which was the first known ordinance of its kind in California, and possibly the nation. Community media advocacy was also instrumental in helping remove alcohol advertising from the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART), and the San Francisco Municipal Transit System. Lessons learned from both campaigns illustrate how community awareness raised through strategic media advocacy created broad support of local leaders and policy makers to effect public health policy, limit youth exposure to alcohol advertising images and hopefully reduce underage drinking.