Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Tom Osborne, Dean Smith join effort
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- A consumer group known for criticizing the fat in things like movie theater popcorn, fast food and pizza has a new target: alcohol advertising in college sports.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest kicked off a
campaign Wednesday aimed at getting colleges and universities,
athletic conferences and the NCAA to stop taking money from alcohol
advertisers.
George Hacker, director of the CSPI's alcohol policies project,
said college administrators who are trying to cut down on underage
drinking on campus can't look the other way when it comes to beer
ads during televised college sports games.
"University officials are selling their students and other
young fans to beer marketers, and at the same time their greatest
concern on campus is alcohol problems," Hacker said. "They lose a
great deal of credibility."
Helping kick off the campaign were former University of North
Carolina head basketball coach Dean Smith, who is college basketball's
all-time winningest coach, and Rep. Tom Osborne, R-Neb., the former
University of Nebraska head football coach.
Hacker charged that beer marketers are clearly targeting
underage drinkers, a point the alcohol industry disputed.
"The fact is that the vast majority of those persons that watch
and attend college sports, as well as the majority of students in
college, are of legal drinking age, 21 or older," said Jeff
Becker, president of the Beer Institute, a trade association.
The CSPI said alcohol producers spent nearly $600 million on
sports programming in 2002. Of that, nearly $60 million was spent
on college sports programs, funding more than 6,200 ads.
Hacker said the NCAA basketball tournament in 2002 had 939 beer
ads, more than the Super Bowl, World Series, college football bowl
games and NFL Monday Night Football combined.
NCAA spokesman Jeff Howard said no changes are being considered
at this time but noted that the NCAA restricts the amount of time
and types of alcoholic beverages advertised during its
championships.
"The NCAA routinely reviews its advertising policies and
procedures, and ultimately the membership will make the
determination on changes," he said Thursday.
