P24
IN
THE
WIND
Quote
OF THE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREA WILSON
WEEK
CONGRESS LOOKS TO
REGULATE ENERGY
DRINK MARKETING
" I really enjoyed
coming to the AMA
and winning all five
races I entered."
AMA Supersport
racer Joe Roberts,
after completing
his perfect miniseason.
"
- Joe Roberts
(AMA Supersport Racer)
A
shift in the marketing plans
of major energy-drink
companies could come with
some sizeable consequences
to the motorcycle industry,
given that millions of dollars
each year are pumped into
Supercross, motocross and
road racing. But a shift might
be exactly what's coming following last week's Senate
Committee hearing regarding
the issue of marketing energy
drinks to youth.
Executives from Monster Energy, Red Bull and
Rockstar were called to give
witness statements on the
matter at the July 31 meeting held by the Committee
on Commerce, Science and
Transportation where a group
of senators spearheaded by
Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass)
is demanding a change in the
marketing practices of energy-drink companies. Markey,
along with Senator Richard
Durbin (D-Ill) and Senator
Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn)
had the energy-drink reps on
the defensive, citing medical
studies that point to a "tenfold increase in the amount of
emergency-room visits associated with caffeine intoxicity"
and other concerns regarding
youth consumption of energy
drinks.
"We can't kid ourselves
about the direct correlation that exists between the
marketing practices and the
increased use by younger
people," Senator Markey declared.
In their opening statements,
Amy E. Taylor of Red Bull and
Rodney Sacks made a number of bold statements declaring that their companies do
not and will not market to children, but those statements
were sharply brought under
scrutiny by the Committee.
Senator Markey grilled
Sacks about the "Monster
Army" and the images of child
athletes as young as 6 years
old showcased on their website. "The facts and common
sense show that the marketing of promotions and pitches
to kids have been open and
blatant and relentless," he
said.
Sacks was quick to defend
his company, calling the Monster Army an athlete-development program.
"There is no organized feeder system for action sports,"
Sachs said. "In this way, we
do work with athletes until they
