Is HSAN Helping Anheuscher Busch Market Alcohol to Underage Get Your Money Right Attendees?

Free Takes a Celebrity Moment at the Houston Financial Summit

When I first found out that Anheuser Busch is now a "presenting sponsor" of the Hip Hop Summit Action Network's Get Your Money Right tour, I was a bit surprised.  Most media coverage of HSAN events have emphasized young people and photos seemed to be filled with college students.

Let me clarify that I'm sympathetic to the marketing needs of the alcohol industry and I think it's almost impossible to market to 20-somethings without also reaching college age and high school students unless you're in a 21+ setting.

I'm also sympathetic to those who recognize that our youth are being totally immersed in all sorts of message, including drink to have fun, that are basically undermining their ability to become mature, functioning adults who are not superficial and self-serving.

So I thought I'd reach out to the folks at HSAN and see what's up.  Unfortunately, there seems to be a pattern emerging related to my contacts with enterprises connected to Russell Simmons.  Perhaps they've all been told that when someone from the media contacts them with a question, the most appropriate response is to ask what it's for before considering sharing information.

In any case, that was my initial response from earlier contacts with the Simmons Jewelry Company and that was my first response from a representative of HSAN.  For those of you who don't do this kind of thing, let me say that out of a broad range of entertainment contacts, Simmons' connected enterprises are the only ones that I've ever encountered who take that approach.  On the other hand, perhaps that's more common in other circles.

So all I ended up getting was that they target the 18-35 demographic, a statement obviously designed to attract sponsors who covet access to that piece of the population.  Since my request for more specific demographic information from previous Hip Hop Financial Summits remains unanswered, I turned to Henry Adaso, who attended the recent Financial Summit in Houston and wrote a report for Vibe.

Henry wrote me:
There were plenty of under 21s. The majority of the audience were probably between 18 and 20, from my own observation.

As Henry also pointed out, folks got into this one with a free ticket that they could download online, so HSAN may not have such data for this event.  So, though 19 and 21 years old look remarkably similar, the crowd sounds quite youthful and that does raise the issue of marketing to people too young to drink.

I'm trying to avoid being accusatory here but, given that marketing alcohol to those underage is an ongoing issue of concern in the US, this rather questionable relationship between HSAN and Anheuser Busch bears further investigation.

Update:
I followed up with Henry about the actual presence of Anheuser Busch at the Houston Summit.  He sent me the above picture with Free in which you can see that AB was as prominent as Chrysler Financial and HSAN.

He also said that the "financial planning booklet and press release also had their name boldly inscribed as title sponsors."

Special thanks to Mr. Adaso aka Rizoh, author of The Rap Up and About: Rap/Hip-Hop, for the information and photo.

ProHipHop's Take:
After getting some more info from HSAN and some feedback from Rizoh plus the comments below, it seems that HSAN and Anheuser Busch are in the clear on this one, at least in terms of what is generally considered to be marketing alcohol to the underage.

For me, a lot of it hinges on how people respond to the AB logo.  For my part, if I see the logo or hear the company's name, I think beer.  And when I see that the AB community program that supports HSAN and a wide range of other initiatives is called AfricanAmericanBud.com, well, um, I think beer!

Now I truly don't believe I'm having a Homer Simpson moment.  And if I was really concerned about marketing alcohol to youngsters via hip hop, I'd be looking at alcohol product placements in music videos because images supported by music and a entertaining context work into your system much more easily and deeply than those that don't have such support.

But, to be perfectly frank, after a variety of intense public online discussions regarding racist, sexist and homophobic humor in hip hop blogs that occurred a while back, I'm not even bothering with complex, subtle discussions of human consciousness.  They simply have no relevance in this environment.

So, ProHipHop accepts that by current consciousness standards in this neck of the woods, HSAN is not facilitating Anheuser Busch's access to under drinking age humans for the purposes of marketing alcohol.

And, on a more personal note, I think that the drinking age should be lowered and our society needs to shift away from an emphasis on an isolated, protected world for young people so that they actually have the opportunity to prepare for the real world that awaits.

Oh, yeah, and legalize marijuana!  Now that's something I'm willing to argue.

Comments

[Slav Kandyba]

Just a thought ... I don't think most HSAN attendees associate the brand Anheuser Busch with its beers (it'd be another story if "Budweiser" was platered all over the promo wall), so I wouldn't go as far as to say they're marketing brew to the boys and girls.

At the same time, I do think the red flag needs to go up. Just not full-staff, yet.

Also, I went to a HSAN Summit here in L.A. last year and besides the free self-help finance book they give out, it wasn't shiat.

[Clyde Smith]

I hear what you're saying and Rizoh also mentioned that AB produces a lot of products besides beer.

In fact, apparently they have a youth program that HSAN directed me to so I can see how that works.

I'm going to check out more and follow up.

[Jarrett Carter]

This affiliation is just as effective for young consumers as Jay's series of Bud commercials. Still, I do see the conflicting ideals here.

[Slav]

You think so, Jarrett?

I don't know man ... I do know this much: Mickey's sitting in my fridge, and nobody made me go buy it.