Busch League
My first trip in years to Sea World in Orlando, FL, was an eye-opener.
It was great fun and very educational, but you can’t miss the Budweiser Clydesdales thundering through the park pulling the bright red beer wagon. A nearby section is a beer garden where a complimentary brew is offered to adults. Kids can have their photographs taken with one of the draft horses in its stall as a continuing loop of Budweiser commercials plays in plain view in the walkway.
Or they can shop in one of the gift shops and pick up a stuffed toy of the popular Sea World whale Shamu or a Bud T-shirt.
I didn’t realize that Anheuser-Busch has owned the theme park for nearly two decades, but wonder if the obvious marketing of beer in a place designed for children couldn’t eventually pose problems for A-B.
Busch Entertainment Corp., the company’s “family entertainment” subsidiary, owns and operates nine parks designed for children, including Busch Gardens, Sesame Place, Adventure Island and Water Country USA.
Good news for its investors: The unit reported its third consecutive year of double-digit profit growth, citing increased attendance and greater guest spending. It’s even opening another park this spring, a water park called Aquatica.
A-B has every right to run the parks as part of its business portfolio. But it should tread lightly in branding its products there. A-B and other alcohol companies are already being closely monitored by consumer advocacy groups and others.
“It’s pretty well known that the alcohol industry, particularly the beer industry, has been targeting kids for years,” says Susan Linn, the director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.
It may be unwise for A-B to market its beer at children’s parks, while, according to its 2007 annual report, at the same time invest more than $675 million since 1982 in community-based programs and national ad campaigns to promote responsibility and discourage underage drinking.
When asked about the contradiction, A-B said that it encourages adults visiting its Sea World parks to take an active role in discouraging underage drinking among their teens.
Even so, the statistics are stark.
In 2006, the average age that people had their first alcohol drink was 16.6 years, an age that makes them significantly more likely to become alcohol dependent, to drive after drinking and to sustain injuries than those who did not drink before age 19, according to Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.
And experts say that advertising is a factor why kids decide to drink.
“That kind of early branding is very effective and it also shows that when the alcohol industry says they don’t target children they’re being disingenuous,” Linn says. “We have no regulations, or very few around advertising and marketing to kids, and all sorts of companies that market adult products are targeting kids including alcohol companies.”
A-B came under fire before for using colorful packaging and flavors for its caffeinated alcoholic beverages that 27 state attorneys general said were attractive to teen drinkers. A-B yanked one beverage called Spykes from store shelves.
Will the marketing at Sea World attract the attention of legislators? We hope not and a bill probably wouldn’t pass anyway.
“Just try to go up against Anheuser-Busch in Congress or any state legislature around the country. It’s not easy,” says Michele Simon, the research and policy director at the Marin Institute, an alcohol industry watchdog.
If A-B was truly living up to its responsibility, it would develop educational and entertainment venues for people over 21, not those under.
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