Nordenberg aids underage campaign

With the support of Pitt, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board launched a campaign based on… With the support of Pitt, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board launched a campaign based on 1980s pop culture advertisements. The campaign, timed to correspond with the start of the school year, is aimed at preventing underage youths from trying to purchase alcohol.

Chancellor Mark Nordenberg, PLCB member P.J. Stapleton and other Pennsylvania officials met at the Wine and Spirits Shoppe on Atwood Street to unveil the campaign. State Sen. Jay Costa Jr., a Pitt trustee, was also in attendance. According to Costa, the main point of the campaign is quite clear.

“The bottom line is: don’t bother trying to buy alcohol if you’re not 21, because we’re going to card you,” he said.

Costa also added that he hopes the campaign, and the chancellor’s presence at the event, will send the message to Pitt students, as well as all of Pennsylvania, that underage drinking will not be tolerated. He cited the use of heavy carding and scanning machines to root out fake ID’s.

Posters, cold-case stickers, table tents, ceiling danglers and buttons will feature phrases such as “If you’ve never done the moonwalk – prepare to be carded.” The Century Council, a national nonprofit organization consisting of America’s leading distilleries, created the advertisements.

While the newest addition to the campaign is an item referencing the old television show “Dallas,” which reads, “If you don’t know who shot JR, prepare to be carded,” the types of pop culture used will include popular songs, trends and movies from the 1980s.

Ideas for the advertising campaign came from interviews with liquor storeowners and the general tag line of the campaign will be “If you’ve never (’80s pop culture theme inserted here), then prepare to be carded.”

The Century Council combined with the National Association of Beverage Retailers, the National License Beverage Association, the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America and the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association to complete the campaign. Materials from the advertisements will be made available to these groups.