IT'S that time of year, folks. All over the islands, decorations are going up in a desperate attempt to make consumers spend the big bucks, get in a celebratory mood and prepare for one of the most raucous, fun holidays of the retailing year. That's right, since this is October it can only mean one thing. Booze and Halloween
are a scary mixHalloween? Heck, no -- most major department stores and shopping centers are looking past Oct. 31 and on to Dec. 25. They are already breaking out the fake Christmas trees, ornaments, blinking lights and nativity scenes in a rush to commercial priorities.
Remember the good old days when the morning after Thanksgiving signaled the official and dignified beginning of the yuletide season? Huh, neither do I.
Apparently the industry's thought process goes something like this: Since there is a recession in Hawaii, people aren't spending money. Therefore, local retailers must resort to playing psychological hardball.
By breaking out the mechanical Santas and reindeer in October, they are trying to scare customers into buying early. Spooky.
But not as frightening as what many supermarket chains, neighborhood stores and specialty retailers throughout the nation have been doing to promote Halloween in recent years.
That one fun night -- when keiki are supposed to dress up in costume and go house-to-house to collect yummies -- has slowly morphed into a reason to get stupid with the help of booze.
The beer industry, especially, targets young people via insidious marketing tactics to increase the sale of suds.
It places Halloween ads in some of the most popular TV programming for youth. It uses child-friendly images and monster cut-out characters at supermarket displays. And companies have even offered "frequent drinker" programs that promise beer mugs, pool tables and other products appealing to young males in exchange for a certain number of bottle caps.
Hmmm, an industry trying to promote a product that is not very good for the health to an underage segment of the population. Now why does that ring a bell? (Joe Camel, where art thou?)
This practice of trying to hook new young addicts on either cigarettes or alcohol is hazardous to the entire community. Why would anyone want to encourage drinking on an occasion when excited little ones will be running around the streets at night? Not too safe or akamai.
THAT is why the 1997 Hands Off Halloween Campaign is being promoted by a number of Oahu retailers, including 7-Eleven, Fastop, Times Supermarket, Texaco Food Mart, Walmart, Island Minimarts and Rainbow Country. These community-minded businesses are refusing to display beer promotions that feature Halloween images because they know it is a perverted message to be sending on yet another holiday gone awry.
A statewide "Halloween Patrol," initiated by members of the Youth Traffic Safety Program, has spot-checked stores to see which are adhering to the campaign.
Everyone can help monitor the problem, and correct it. The next time you go into an establishment with one of those "funny" monster characters beckoning to a display of six-packs, ask for the manager. Tell him or her to take down that inappropriate promotional tool and to please put it in storage.
Right next to the artificial Christmas tree.
Saturday, October 25, 1997 THERE are many ways to support the University of Hawaii. One is motoring over to Aloha Stadium tonight to cheer on the Rainbows as they tackle (literally) the San Diego Aztecs in a football match-up. Another is making a donation to the UH Foundation or joining the alumni association, whose main mission is not to raise moolah but to promote a positive image of the university through active alumni membership. UH should run
its own universeOf course, the easiest way to be a green-and-white booster is just being proud of UH's accomplishments, including the stellar factoid that faculty brought in a record $160 million in grants for research and training last year.
But the hardest way to support the UH will require a little time and effort during this next legislative session. Pick up the phone or write a letter, and tell your political representatives that the university deserves autonomy.
One of the suggestions of the Governor's Economic Revitalization Task Force is that the UH be restructured into a "quasi-public corporation with independent accountability." Translation: Let its leaders set priorities; manage UH lands, funds and resources, including legal counsel; and encourage a stronger entrepreneurial spirit.
It's a sensible concept that will have tough going in a micromanagement-minded Legislature -- unless scads of UH supporters bomb lawmakers with a united directive. Here's the first salvo from a proud UH-Manoa graduate of the class of, oh, never mind.
