Jerry McDermott, a Boston city councilor for Allston-Brighton, could be destroying his support among college students for the upcoming Council elections. He has proposed eliminating alcohol advertisements on the Green Line T, because he feels some of the ads are offensive and can lead to irresponsible drinking.
If ads are the problem, why hasn’t McDermott looked at other venues for advertising, such as billboards near bus stops, and newspapers and magazines? It makes little sense to target T advertisements when ads for alcohol are ever more present on billboards, in publications and on television.
Bacardi advertisements do not cause binge drinking, or underage drinking among college students, and they never have. In fact, it is insulting to college students to presume they are swayed solely by mass media. College students in many cases drink to socialize and have fun with peers, and though they may sometimes act irresponsibly, it is not because Green Line trains advertise “The Bacardi Party Express.”
Green Line trains also advertise Freschetta’s pizza, which could help lead to bad cholesterol, but we highly doubt that college students are rushing to the grocery store to buy a box of pepperoni pizza as you read this.
Even City Council President Michael Flaherty acknowledged that McDermott “need[s] to be fair in his accusation,” and that only eliminating alcohol ads on Green Line Ts is no solution to any problem associated with drinking.
The City Council should not waste its precious time discussing whether to remove the Bacardi ad from the Green Line, and they should realize that these ads are not making the drinking problem any worse.
And posting a Bacardi ad – even though the company has been around since anyone can remember and has already established a name for itself – does not encourage students to run to the liquor store and load up on bottles of rum.
The MBTA should continue to give adverting space to the highest bidder. Alcohol companies likely can afford to pay more for ads than smaller companies, and already account for a substantial portion of the MBTA’s revenue. Eliminating alcohol ads from the Green Line might seriously reduce the organization’s revenue, and lead to further hikes in transportation fares.
It also makes little sense that McDermott is only targeting Green Line advertisements, and not other Ts that have stops near universities. Perhaps the councilor should try riding the Bacardi Party Express himself, and see if it gives him a craving for rum.