In the pink: MADD and public health policy in the 1990s

We examine a turnaround by MADD in 1992 on a major public health policy issue: the question of possible limits on and required health and safety messages in alcohol advertising by the alcohol industry itself and in the media. We review the history of MADD and its primary competitor, RID, on this issue, and note that RID has suffered financially and in terms of a lack of broadcast media exposure for the past decade, at least in part because it has espoused controls on alcoholic beverage advertising. Finally, we consider possible reasons for MADD's shift on this matter and its implications for the organization's future.