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Latinos Protest Offensive Budweiser Ads; New Study on Latino Communities Links Alcohol Advertising with Disease, Crime, Violence Against Women
Business Wire - September 22, 1997 16:12
LATINO ALCOHOL-ADS %CALIFORNIA %FOODS %BEVERAGES %MEDICINE V%BW P%BW
SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 22, 1997--Continuing its illegal "Buy the Beer, Get the Gear" ad campaign, Anheuser-Busch is running a Spanish language television commercial which urges viewers to drink large amounts of Budweiser beer.
The commercial features young men and women at a party collecting bottle caps and packages from Budweiser beer. The narrator concludes by saying "Entre mas puntos, mejor, compra la cerveza, llvate los premios." Translated this means: "The more points you collect, the better. Buy the beer, take the prizes."
"These ads are the worst yet and are an affront to the Latino community. Until now the Bud Gear' ads never directly told people to drink more. Now, they have selected Spanish language media to urge Latinos to drink as much beer as possible," said CalPartners Project Director Eduardo Hernandez, Ph.D. "We once again call on Anheuser-Busch to stop the escalation of this dangerous and now seemingly race driven campaign."
The ad is running just as new research from Maria Luisa Alaniz of the Prevention Research Center in Berkeley shows that:
-- communities saturated with alcohol ads targeted to Latinos have higher rates of crime against women;
-- alcohol is the strongest predictor of crime among Latinos;
-- nationwide, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis is the sixth leading cause of death in the Latino community; and
-- up to 60% of homicides and up to 75% of rapes among Latinos involved alcohol.
Ralph Morales, Chairman of the California Latino Alcohol and Other Drugs Coalition (CAL-LADCO), protested the ads. "Companies like Anheuser-Busch are spending a lot of money researching and marketing to the Latino community," Morales said. "They don't seem to care that the research shows promoting over-consumption of alcohol is killing Latinos."
The Anheuser-Busch Budweiser "Buy the Gear, Get the Gear" campaign offers gifts such as dart boards and pool tables to drinkers who earn points by collecting bottle caps and coupons from Budweiser. It takes 27,000 points to win a pool table. If 40 people today began an effort to win the pool table, each person would have to drink 17 beers a day until November 1.
Television, radio and print promotions feature messages attractive to young people and even include actors and models that appear college age or younger.
The campaign has been ruled illegal by the Attorney General, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) and the Los Angeles Superior Court, but a Los Angeles judge has allowed it to continue through November.
Note to editors: Please see attached list of contacts for spokespersons in your area.
MEDIA CONTACTS FOR COMMENTS ON BUDWEISER SPANISH COMMERCIAL
BAY AREA
Ralph Morales - Chairman, CAL-LADCO (510) 305-4239
Maria Luisa Alaniz - Prevention Research Center, Berkeley (510) 486-1111, (408) 924-5543
Regina Chavarin, Board Member, CAL-LADCO (510) 535-1433
Rogelio Balderas, Board Member, CAL-LADCO (408) 378-6805
CENTRAL VALLEY
Daniel Torres, Board Member, CAL-LADCO (209) 982-8213
Barbara Weiss, Mexican American Alcoholism Program (916) 394-2320
Sylvia Villalobos, Centro Guadalupe (916) 443-5367
Miriam Navarro-Thoms (916) 452-3601
SANTA BARBARA
Jenaro Valdez, El Concillio del Conado de Ventura (805) 682-5897
Maricela Morales, El Concillio del Conado de Ventura (805) 486-9777
SALINAS
Linda Sanchez-Padilla, Preventing Alcohol Related Trauma, Salinas (408) 442-7760
LOS ANGELES Zelenne Cardenas, Board Member, CAL-LADCO (310) 245-7643
SAN DIEGO
Victor Garcia, Communities Against Substance Abuse (619) 641-1571
Cleo Malone, Palavra Tree Inc. (619) 263-7768
CONTACT: CalPartners
Mark Capitolo, 916/442-3760, ext. 1
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