Do you remember the beer commercial with the dog and the horse that ran repeatedly during last year’s Superbowl?  I loved that ad.  It was so sweet—it made having a beer seem as innocent as having a diet soda.  And that was exactly what that ad was supposed to do, according to my colleagues, Susan Kurlander, M.Ed., and Howard Reznick, LCSW-C, Prevention Education Specialists at Jewish Community Services.

Last year 14 million viewers under age 18 watched the Superbowl; 7 million of them were under age 12, and I’ll bet most of those kids saw that ad at least once during the game.  I’m all for entertaining commercials, but let’s look at that ad critically.  The ad was about a very cute, smart dog helping a sad, lonely horse be a part of the T-E-A-M-  the Budweiser team.  So what the ad was really saying was something like this:  Be a part of the team, be cool, be happy, drink a Bud.  I don’t remember any factual information in the ad about a legal drinking age, drinking and driving, etc.  I just remember the cute dog, the horse, how good the commercial made me feel and more importantly, I remember the product.  My guess is that those viewers ages 18 and under remember pretty much the same thing.

Okay, I’ll stop harping on Budweiser and the ad.  But this year’s Superbowl game will be viewed in millions of homes on February 1, and you can bet there will be other equally entertaining commercials for alcohol.  So can we enjoy the game and the ads, and at the same time help our children think critically about what they are being “sold”?  I think so.  The important thing is to talk about the ads as they appear.  According to the website http://www.medialiteracy.net, children who understand the often subliminal messages the ad agencies employ are more likely to make healthy decisions regarding alcohol use.

I plan on watching the Superbowl and the ads with my family.  My 11-year-old nephew will be glued to the set and there will be a 16, 13, and 8-year-old watching periodically.  We will enjoy the game and discuss the ads.  You can bet that whatever strategy those marketers use to make drinking seem fun and harmless, I’ll be there talking about it with whoever is in the room.

By Donna Kane, MA, Jewish Community Services, Baltimore, MD

Jewish Community Services offers a wide range of supportive services and resources for you and your family.  To learn more, call 410-466-9200, or visit http://www.jcsbaltimore.org.  Questions about parenting?  Send an e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), and check out the Parenting Tip of the Week at http://www.jcsbaltimore.org. 

There is something ineffably sad about this.

In our therapeutic times, parents apparently need “advice” from social workers on each and every aspect of life - as if adult common sense departed this earth (well, perhaps, just Baltimore, and then only for readers of this publication) with our parent’s and grandparent’s generations.

Oh dear! How ever will we survive the Superbowl without preemptive therapy?

I’ve been watching this game since Superbowl V (our Colts won!), and I guess I’ve seen hundreds of beer commercials over the years. Its funny, though, neither as a child, adolescent, college student, nor adult have I been attracted to alcohol as a result.

If Ms. Kane wants to write something valuable about sports marketing, let her assess the phenomenon of parents purchasing game jerseys with star athletes’s names on them for their sons (and themselves).

What does that say about the constant marketing of celebrity, superstar culture, and, more importantly, the judgment of parents?

Maybe next season when the Ravens are on TV, she can ignore the beer commercials, and focus on the thousands of kids in the stadium who don’t merely want to be like Ray Lewis; they want to BE Ray Lewis!

I’ll be interested to read the therapeutic perspective on this!