MADD Mad at Urban Outfitters for Drunk T-shirts

Here’s a question for you.

Would you let your kids wear t-shirts emblazoned with the slogan, “I Drink You’re Cute” with the last couple of words blurred out, or another with the term “I Vote For Vodka!”?

Well, the folks at MADD are seeing red over the shirts, saying that they send the wrong message.

Since it’s back to school season, shirts like these are going to be scooped up by their target demographic…young adults ages 18 to 24, with the lower end of that, obviously not legally able to consume alcohol.

And probably younger kids as well.

According to this here:

Urban Outfitters is catching heat once again over a line of trendy tops that some say glorify drinking for teenagers.

“As a mother, these shirts are not acceptable for children under the age of 21,” Jan Withers, national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) told the Daily News.

Withers, whose own daughter was killed by a drunk driver, says the shirts could give young shoppers the wrong idea about alcohol.

“If they’re targeting that audience, then they’re sending the message that it’s cool to drink,” she said. “We know of the dangers of underage drinking and the fact that it’s just downright illegal.”

But Withers says the shirts also provide a “golden opportunity” for parents to sit down and talk about drinking with their children.

“A lot of research shows that frequent, ongoing conversation about the dangers of alcohol is effective,” she said.

Withers adds that she isn’t against adults wearing the shirts or drinking in general.

Jan Evans, spokesperson for the Federal Trade Commission’s website to prevent underage drinking, dontserveteens.gov., told Yahoo’s Shine that Urban Outfitters is under no legal pressure to remove alcohol-related merchandise.

“You can’t pull them from outlets,” Evans said, noting that the shirts fall under “branded merchandise.”

Sure, they send the message that “drinking is cool!”

But then again, the message is out there in droves…is it not?

Beer commercials, mixed drink commercials, wine coolers, all give the appearance that drinking is the thing to do at any social setting.