Hard liquor ads
I just watched President Bush give a speech regarding the War on Drugs issue, and the damage caused by addiction, its relation with crime and family breakups and so on.
Then in the same half hour spot, I saw a report re. advertising for hard liquor:
<a href="http://money.cnn.com/2001/12/13/companies/nbc/"; target="_blank">http://money.cnn.com/2001/12/13/companies/nbc/</a>;
Considering that alcohol abuse and its indirect effects cause many more deaths and health problems in the US annually than all illegal substance abuse combined, is this not a big slap in the President's face re. his efforts in combating drug abuse? Or is this another victory-dance of the almighty $ over morals and ethics?
<a href="http://alcoholism.about.com/library/narmort01.htm"; target="_blank">http://alcoholism.about.com/library/narmort01.htm</a>;
<a href="http://www.druglibrary.org/special/king/king2.htm"; target="_blank">http://www.druglibrary.org/special/king/king2.htm</a>;
Then in the same half hour spot, I saw a report re. advertising for hard liquor:
<a href="http://money.cnn.com/2001/12/13/companies/nbc/"; target="_blank">http://money.cnn.com/2001/12/13/companies/nbc/</a>;
Considering that alcohol abuse and its indirect effects cause many more deaths and health problems in the US annually than all illegal substance abuse combined, is this not a big slap in the President's face re. his efforts in combating drug abuse? Or is this another victory-dance of the almighty $ over morals and ethics?
<a href="http://alcoholism.about.com/library/narmort01.htm"; target="_blank">http://alcoholism.about.com/library/narmort01.htm</a>;
<a href="http://www.druglibrary.org/special/king/king2.htm"; target="_blank">http://www.druglibrary.org/special/king/king2.htm</a>;
Comments
[quote] The change at NBC does not come without strings, however. All liquor advertisers must commit to at least a four-month long, on-air social responsibility campaign that promotes responsible drinking and designated driver programs. In addition, no ads can show people drinking alcohol.
As part of its advertising agreement, Guinness will kick off a multimillion-dollar responsibility campaign on the network this week.
NBC is also limiting what kind of programs during which liquor ads would run. Officials said 85 percent of the audience for any show that would feature liquor ads must be at least 21-years-old and the actors in the ads must be at least 30-years-old.<hr></blockquote>
Cutty Sark commercials on the Teletubbies.... Jim Beam commercials on Touched by an Angel.... Cuervo Especial commercials on Just Shoot Me.... it's gonna be great for everybody.
Safe drinking. Maybe there should be a parallel education program concerning other addictive drugs. How would we define 'safe smoking', or 'safe cocaine snorting' or 'safe prozac popping'. Strange.
<img src="confused.gif" border="0">
Then again, I have a hang-up with smoking since the additives (ammonia?!) are SO toxic. If they just cleaned up the stuff (some day I think I'll be saying the same thing about Coca-Cola), I'd say let people smoke responsibly, and accept a little vice now and then. I'm not talking about a-pack-a-day vice, but the occasional social smoke or, for example, the traditional cigar for the groom's party after the wedding. (Yuck! But I'm a good sport.)
Problems with abusing alcohol and cigarettes are partly biological, partly cultural. I'd like to think that we as the human species can overcome our biology with our mental capacity though this is often easier said than done in some cases. But are we talking about ruining it for the rest of us? I have a real problem excusing people who say "I can't help myself," "this is just the way I am" or "society made me do it." At some point, you have to place responsibility on the person rather than either try to protect them from (what, themselves?) it or assume they can't handle it. I expect people to control how they drink and smoke and so forth. Do TV ads really have that much influence? Are we slaves to our predisposed weaknesses? Do we deserve a little dirty habit now and again? Are we such puritans even today?
I don't mean to trivialize what is actually a big problem historically in my family. God, I'm so torn. Does endorsing the legalization of soft drugs make me a liberal, or does the defense of alcoholic beverages make me conservative? I always thought I was a "bleeding-heart" liberal before all this terrorist bullshit, but then again?
Seriously, folks, alcohol consumption existed before TV ads, and will continue at roughly the same level after TV ads. People might drink more "hard stuff" and less beer & wine, but probably it will work out roughly the same.
The danger, I agree with Sam, isn't that more kids are going to drink. Those that will, will. But you can get into a heck of a lot of trouble an awful lot faster chugging down Absolut or Capt. Morgan's than you can with Bud.
You never hear about any college freshman frat boys who kill themselves with Bud. I remember in high school that beer was it. It really would be bad if suddenly hard liquor became the rage at high school parties.
<strong>Safe drinking. Maybe there should be a parallel education program concerning other addictive drugs. How would we define 'safe smoking'</strong><hr></blockquote>
Safe Smokin', that's called living in Berkeley. Here you can pretty much do what you want, as long as it isn't to hardcore. And that's as far as I know..
Now if you are on BART, that's an another story... <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/12/14/MN145685.DTL"; target="_blank">Link</a>
When I first read that, I thought his name was Wild Gnomes......I need to get some sleep ASAP.
I just have to ask, don't be offended - are you southern baptist? Of course there's such thing as safe drinking, safe smoking, and safely taking prozac. It's called moderation! Can you not enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, or beers with friends? Prozac is a perscription drug that does good for many more people than it harms. Smoking (I assume you're talking about marijuana), while not totally "safe," can obviously be done in a responsible manner, so it doesn't effect anyone than the smoker. In reality, marijuana is one of the few substances that can get you high, but can't hurt you directly. You can OD on hard drugs, pills, alcohol, hell you can OD on robitussin. You can't with pot. Go ahead, try. You'll get ridiculously stoned and fall asleep. (As an aside, it will probably be the best fuckin sleep you've ever had.) <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
[quote]Uh, drinkin' ain't nearly as bad as even pot smokin'<hr></blockquote>
Don't you think this is the other way around? Ever seen two stoned guys get in a bar fight?
[quote]"Here at BART we have a zero tolerance policy," said BART police Cmdr. Wade Gomes<hr></blockquote>
Zero-tolerance policies only benefit people who don't like thinking for themselves.
[ 12-15-2001: Message edited by: poor taylor ]</p>
Q: which one won't get you drunk?
[ 12-15-2001: Message edited by: Artman @_@ ]</p>
<strong>Oh shit...you know what's next...GUNS. They'll start selling guns and rifles between "Walker, Texas Ranger" and "NYDP: Blue"...commercial TV sucks.
[ 12-15-2001: Message edited by: Artman @_@ ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
It might lead to dancing!
Uh, drinkin' ain't nearly as bad as even pot smokin' which ain't nearly as bad as coke sniffin'. Aren't we being a bit touchy on the subject?
Hell, a little alchohol is good for you, as is a little pot
Man, those two arent even as bad for you as coffee. Im serious, you try getting addicted to it
[ 12-15-2001: Message edited by: The Toolboi ]</p>
Those glaring eyes as could be seen in the assembly made me think being at point blank range of a drunk mob. Scary!
So will the President also declare war on religion, because those people were out of mind, out of proper control of body and habit? Because they donated money to an already rich bloke, which they better had spent for their own poor families? Because this is opium for the masses?
But I thought about the US people maybe being a bit prone to religious zealotry? No? Not more than other people? Then they cannot be more prone to drinks as well.
Living in social clusters brings all kind of ill side effects, including misuse of alcohol, religion, politics, drugs, power, money, education etc. etc. <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
The strong puritanical heritage among the US sometimes causes strange side effects like this holy war idea against alcohol, which itself caused an unprecedented aera of crime, murder and misery. The prohibition aera.
What about being a little bit more relaxed and civilized? This holy war idea gets a bit on my nerves recently.
You do not need to engage in war against drunk people, you need to care for an evironment for people so they won't escape by alcohol abuse and drug abuse because there is only a hostile environment for them to live in. Every society breeds their own social misfits, extreme social environments leed to extreme social problems. This is very old knowledge.
Anyway, the habit of TV stations to broadcast e.g. a feature about hungry children, which is interrupted by commercials for big fat hamburgers, eaten by big fat children and their even bigger and fatter parents, is able to lower the best spirits. So interrupting Mr. Bushs speech by liquor ads is carrying forward an old habit, is it?
I think I'm off for a cold beer now.....
Buddy, I've been trying to get addicted to weed for months! <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />