Center for Science in the Public Interest attacks ad money to colleges.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has launched an offensive against beer ad sponsorships of college sporting events. The effort appears intended to discourage beer companies from sponsorships of college athletics.

CSPI, which has been characterized as "neo-prohibitionist" by many in the beer industry, has released research studies suggesting that a majority of Americans think colleges are wrong to take advertising money from beer companies while those institutions are also trying to discourage underage and binge drinking on campus. In the CSPI study, seventy-one percent of those surveyed support a ban on all alcohol ads on televised college games.

Jeff Becker, President of the Beer Institute, responded to CSPI's announcement. "According to the Nielsen Media Research," he said, "88 percent of persons that watch college football and 87 percent of people who watch college basketball are age 21 or older."

Becker added that numerous government studies showing that advertising does not promote underage drinking. "Young people have consistently ranked advertisements last when asked about what influences their drinking habits," he said.

Becker also noted that the beer industry follows an Advertising and Marketing Code. "The advertising code requires that beer advertisements only be placed on broadcast programs and in magazines where at least 70 percent of the audience is reasonably expected to be above the legal purchase age," he stated.

In tandem with the release of the CSPI study, the group said that former University of North Carolina head basketball coach Dean Smith and former University of Nebraska head football coach (and current U.S. Representative) Tom Osborne (R-NE) are helping launch a nationwide campaign to rid televised college sports of alcohol advertising.

"College officials say they want to deter underage and binge drinking, and stop the riots that disrupt campus communities and blot schools' reputations," said George A. Hacker, director of CSPI's alcohol policies project. "But too often, they're complicit with beer marketers in pitching beer to their students and young fans. That totally undercuts their responsibilities to the health and safety of their students."

The Beer Institute's Jeff Becker pointed out that underage drinking is dropping. "Underage drinking has steadily declined for the past two decades," he said. "The beer industry remains committed to helping continue this trend by addressing alcohol abuse, and keeping our eye on the ball by promoting programs that work."