Or so they claim, when their backs are against the wall.

I've been waiting for this to happen, and predictably it has. Two academics, one of whom is a renowned marketing guru and the other an addictions specialist, have challenged a study that showed a causal relationship between advertising and underage drinking. One of the academics in fact, claims that the study's own data demonstrate that the more alcohol advertising underage drinkers see, the less they drink.

One of these days, I'll dig deeper into the funding and methodology of all of the studies that purportedly fail to prove that advertising increases consumption — at least in regards to alcohol and youth — but in the meantime I guess I'll have to depend on my common sense, unscientific as that sounds. And common sense tells me that kids who are inundated by advertising and promotions that show people having a blast while getting blasted is going to make them want to do the same.