Targeting underage crowd

Dallas Morning News: Teen-agers are being told two very different stories about alcohol. And there's no doubt which story has the most appeal. It's the one that shows young guys partying down at places where there is no end to the fun and beautiful women.
The alcoholic beverage industry is happy to oblige fantasies to lure in younger consumers. Bacardi has a magazine ad that shows a young man drinking rum out of the navel of a woman at a bar. Michelob Light shows a young couple making out in their car with a beer bottle on the dashboard.
Then, there is the other story that isn't a bit fun. It's the one where 615 deaths of Texans under the age of 21 were blamed on alcohol in 2001. It's the one where 26 percent of Texas' middle school students reported binge drinking last year on at least one occasion. And it's the one where 23 percent of the state's high school seniors said they had driven cars during the last year after consuming several drinks.
This nation can no longer ignore or condone the glut of liquor ads on youth-oriented television shows, at rock concerts and in magazines where most readers are in their teens.
Voluntary guidelines
The alcoholic beverage industry's own voluntary guidelines prohibit the industry from targeting underage drinkers with its television advertising. But the Federal Trade Commission reports that beer ads appear on three of the 15 TV shows with the largest teenage audiences. More than $11.7 million was spent last year for ads on youth-oriented shows.
If the alcoholic beverage industry won't clean up its act, Congress should do it. Texans Standing Tall, an organization that focuses on the problem of underage drinking, wants to see Washington set specific advertising guidelines that would keep booze ads away from the youth market.
We prefer that the industry police itself. But the temptation to target teens appears too great. Studies indicate that individuals who begin drinking when they are 15 years old will be regular customers for the rest of their lives.
Parents certainly share the responsibility. But when liquor companies become so blatant in their pitch for younger drinkers, it is an uphill battle.