NEWS

Dover kids urge Anheuser-Busch to nix beer slogan

'Study. Sleep. Natty. Repeat.' targets under-21 consumers, they say

Brian Early
bearly@seacoastonline.com
Dover Youth to Youth members recently mailed the CEO of Anheuser-Busch, protesting a slogan they found at a grocery store they felt was targeting underage consumers. [Courtesy]

DOVER — A recent trip to the grocery store prompted members of Dover Youth to Youth to fire off a letter to the CEO of Anheuser-Busch, demanding an immediate cessation of a marketing slogan for Natural Light beer they called "idiotic," saying it targets underage consumers.

The students snapped a picture of a sign reading "Study. Sleep. Natty. Repeat." The slogan was included on a price card for a 30-pack of the beer made by Anheuser-Busch at the Market Basket in Somersworth, said Dana Mitchell, the Youth to Youth coordinator.

"We are disturbed about your ‘Study. Sleep. Natty. Repeat.’ advertisement for your Natural Light beer that appeared in a local supermarket in our area. Our concerns lay within how our fellow students may perceive this message," the students wrote in the letter they sent to Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris in St. Louis.

Dover Youth to Youth members feel the target market of the marketing campaign is an underage market. "The majority of individuals who would be studying are high school or college students. The majority of these students are under the legal drinking age of 21," they wrote. "The drinking age was set at 21 because the brain does not stop growing and developing until the mid-twenties. Drinking can interfere with the brain’s ability to process information, thus making it harder to learn."

A spokesperson Anheuser-Busch, contacted by Foster's Daily Democrat, denied the company is targeting underage customers.

"Anheuser-Busch and our wholesaler partners have invested more than $1 billion in community-based programs to help prevent underage drinking and alcohol-impaired driving," the spokesperson stated. "We are proud of our ongoing tradition of promoting alcohol responsibility and investing in new ways to drive awareness around these critical issues. We strive to ensure that our consumers are enjoying our products in a safe way. Natural Light takes responsible consumption very seriously and this piece of signage is in no way meant to promote underage drinking."

In their letter, Youth to Youth expressed concern about the dangers of underage alcohol consumption. "Drinking also causes a great loss in learning potential. On average, regular binge drinking in underage students can reduce their grades by 10 percent or more," they wrote. "This advertisement completely disregards the well-being of young peoples’ studies by instead encouraging them to drink, and therefore put their learning potential at risk."

The letter was also sent to New Hampshire Distributors, which distributes the beer in the state, as well as the Anheuser-Busch plant in Merrimack. It called the "Study. Sleep. Natty. Repeat." slogan "idiotic to say the least." If one were to follow the slogan as presented, "they would proceed to study after consuming a ‘natty,’ which would be a ridiculous idea and a difficult task."

Youth to Youth asked the beer company to "immediately discontinue this advertisement" and "never create a campaign with this message or similar message in the future." They said they have no problem with those of legal drinking age to consume alcohol in moderation. "However, we will not stand idly by and watch the youth of our community be taken advantage of."