Beer Story: In Bad Taste?

Considering that a leading cause of death for youths 15 through 26 is alcohol-related automobile crashes, we wonder why Times staff writer David Wharton gave thousands of dollars worth of free advertising to a San Fernando Valley beer manufacturer in the Feb. 13 Valley View section.

The beer’s advertising slogan states “Great Taste--Less Killing,” presumably because 51% of the profits from the beer sales are donated to saving African wildlife.

This is an interesting contrast to the billions of dollars spent by the alcohol industry to defeat the Nickel a Drink Tax (Prop. 134). The tax monies would have gone for alcohol abuse prevention and treatment, law enforcement services, and to victims of violent crime and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Last month, U.S. Surgeon General Antonia Novello stated two major concerns regarding drug abuse prevention efforts: Alcohol advertising that targets youth, and the mixed messages children receive from the media. We hope The Times will consider Novello’s concerns. Instead of writing about “conscientious guzzling,” how about the conscientious portrayal of the drug alcohol in future articles?

ILENE SHAPIRO

JAN BARROS

JOANNE WRIGHT

Burbank