Marketing Booze to Blacks (review)

146 Review MARKETING BOOZE TO BLACKS Videotape by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Institute on Black Chemical Abuse. Washington, DC: Public Interest Video Network , 1990. $79.95; $29.95 for individuals, grassroots agencies, and organizations with annual budgets of less than $50,000. Alcohol-related problems contribute to higher rates of disease and death in African-American than in white populations. The black mortality rate from cirrhosis is twice that of whites; among persons age 35 to 44, the mortality rate from esophageal cancer is about 10 times higher than among whites.1 Despite this heavy toll, Af rican-Americans have become a special market for the alcohol beverage industry. Marketing Booze to BlacL· critically examines the marketing practices of the alcohol beverage industry in African-American communities and describes what communities can do to challenge these practices. The video presents data on the prevalence of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems, and cites studies showing that African-Americans suffer disproportionately from cirrhosis, hypertension , and birth defects. The video links marketing efforts to health status, and warns us that the alcoholic beverage industry's aggressive marketing initiatives can only worsen these health problems. The video includes interviews with prominent African-Americans in the fields of alcohol and health—persons such as Peter Bell, founder of the National Black Alcoholism Council, who describe the images and symbols employed through television, magazine, and billboard advertisements directed at African -Americans. A consistent theme emerges from these interviews: the industry irresponsibly bases its marketing to African-Americans on a strategy that creates images equating alcoholic beverages with power, success, and sex. The video's depiction of the powerful symbols used by the alcohol beverage industry is vivid, and its analysis of advertisements directed at African-Americans is balanced and comprehensive. For example, the video includes interviews with health advocates as well as with alcohol industry representatives. The problem of industry sponsorship of events and activities in AfricanAmerican communities is also sensitively addressed. Marketing Booze to Blacks includes very inspiring segments on what AfricanAmerican leaders and grassroots groups have done in communities such as Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved · Vol. 4, No. 2 · 1993 ____________________________________________________________147 Philadelphia and Harlem to oppose the marketing practices of the alcohol industry; the inclusion of interviews with African-American youth involved in alcohol prevention activities would further enhance the power of the video's message. The video also provides suggestions on activities that local groups throughout the country can undertake in their communities to challenge the industry. While these suggestions are practical and useful, greater attention could have been given to recommendations that focus on community strategies to change local and national policies regarding alcohol marketing. For example, there is value in lobbying members of Congress to support legislation to provide equal broadcast time to explain the negative aspects of alcohol use. Videos are part of popular culture; they are also effective educational tools. Marketing Booze to Blacks can be used in a variety of educational contexts: to increase awareness about alcohol problems in Af rican-American communities; to generate discussion and develop local consensus on strategies to reduce alcohol-related problems; and to stimulate community action on alcohol industry marketing practices. Tlie video's message and high production quality should appeal to a broad spectrum of Americans—African-American civic organizations and community groups; health workers; practitioners; and activists working with African-American and other underserved populations. African -American youth involved in alcohol prevention activities may find the video particularly appealing, given the popularity of videos among youth. —Rhonda Jones-Webb, Dr.p.H. Division of Epidemiology School of Public Health University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN 55454-1015 Dr. Jones-Webb studies tlie epidemiology of alcohol use. Her research concentrates on drinking patterns, alcohol-induced morbidity and mortality, and community-based initiatives to reduce alcohol-related problems in African-American communities. REFERENCE 1. Report to tlie Secretary's Task Force on Black and Minority Health. Voll. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 1985. ...