By: Lakeview Health
Television is a great way to advertise products. How many of us wait for the Superbowl to watch all of the new Budweiser commercials every year? Most of us are visual and are the perfect target for this type of ad campaign. Brian Hinman, manager of Federal Policy Advocacy & Time to End Alcohol Marketing in Sports (T.E.A.M.S.) coordinator, proposed that there needs to be a decrease in alcohol advertisements in sports related activities. T.E.A.M.S. is a new campaign to reduce the promotion of alcoholic beverages to young people, as well as reduce the association of alcohol marketing with sports. It is proposed that school sporting events should not sell alcoholic beverages, should eliminate the advertisements for alcohol using athletes, and there should be no commercials for alcohol before, during and after collegiate events. This also extends to the Olympics. This seems like a great idea. Our athletes have an influence on youth today, sometimes more so than parents. If our idol is drinking with seemingly no issues and look like they are having an enhanced time, then why wouldn’t others attempt to recreate this image for themselves? The problem is that television producers are not concerned with alcoholism, unhealthy influences on youth or the association of the athlete to alcohol. They mostly want to increase sales in any way possible. Money is always a deciding factor. While T.E.A.M.S. is a great idea, I think that there will be a lot of uphill battles for establishing this.
