Bacardi has a long standing commitment to social responsibility and a long heritage of incorporating responsible consumption messages into its advertising. They have taken on several activities and events emphasizing the responsible consumption of alcohol. They continue to take a strong stance on underage drinking today through their 2009 “We Don’t Serve Teens” campaign. Bacardi has secured more than $1.3 million in television, radio, print, online and outdoor media placements from its partners in order to support the campaign. The purpose and aim of the campaign is to curb illegal and underage drinking.

Bacardi, a leading spirits and wine producer, takes its commitment to safe drinking practices seriously. This powerful campaign is a joint public-private partnership between the federal and state governments, the spirits industry, various consumer organizations, The Century Council and The Distilled Spirits Council. Bacardi is a member of both The Century Council and The Distilled Spirits Council. The former works to fight drunk driving and underage drinking whereas the latter works to maintain responsible practices for alcohol advertising and marketing.

The “We Don’t Serve Teens” campaign, established by the Federal Trade Commission to fight underage drinking, espouses that serving alcohol to teens is unsafe, irresponsible and illegal. The campaign has learned that most teens who drink obtain alcohol from older friends, family members, at parties, or at home without parental consent. The campaign provides useful information for talking to teens about underage drinking. They also indicate that parents and other adults have a strong influence on a teens’ decision to say “no” to alcohol.

Bacardi, working with its media partners, has acquired national exposure for the program using ad placements with six print and 22 online media partners. Bacardi has also released several public service announcements that appear on television in 49 different markets as well as billboard advertisements in 17 different markets. All media partners have signed-on to feature the campaign through December of 2009.

Rick Wilson, the senior vice president, external affairs for Bacardi U.S.A. has stated that, “Bacardi U.S.A. is dedicated to keeping our products away from those who are not of legal drinking age and we want teens and parents to know underage drinking is unacceptable, harmful and illegal. Most alcohol consumed by minors is found at the home and we’re confident educating parents on this and speaking to teens about making the right choices will help address underage drinking”.
For more information, visit www.dontserveteens.gov.

In sync with America’s economic hardships, McDonald’s Corp. has decided to expand its range of dollar meals with breakfasts. The world’s largest hamburger chain announced the plan Dec. 10, 2009.

Come January 2010, the Golden Arches would sell a set of breakfast items for $1. Such menu would feature the chain’s signature Sausage McMuffin, a sausage burrito, a sausage biscuit, a 12-ounce coffee and a hash brown.

McDonald’s latest promo would be accompanied by a heavy marketing blitz across the US. The company had already set aside a huge budget for advertising in 2010, in a bid to compensate for slow sales.

This move is widely seen as a natural consequence of rising unemployment and stiff price competition among fastfood chains. As more people lose jobs, less people dine in restaurants for breakfast.

“We know now, more than ever, our customers continue to look for everyday affordability wherever and whenever they choose to eat out,” said McDonald’s spokesperson Danya Proud.

McDonald’s $1 dollar breakfasts may vary across the country. For instance, some branches may sell the coffee in larger servings, since a 12-ounce coffee is already priced at 89 cents in some locations.

On top of the dollar breakfast menu, McDonald’s would also begin selling the Big Mac Snack Wrap around the same time. Part Big Mac, part chicken wrap, the item consists of a beef patty, cheese, pickles, lettuce, onions, and sauce—sans the buns.

Yet again, this should make for affordable fare; the item should be sold at $1.49. Four-hundred restaurants across the US have so far tested the item last week.

This would not be the first time McDonald’s has sold one-dollar breakfast menus. The company had launched the promo as early as August, albeit in comparatively fewer branches.

Generally, breakfast consumption in US fastfood chains dropped by 2% this summer, according to data released by research firm NPD Group.

Via the airwaves and the Internet, more and more American children are being exposed to junk food commercials.

According to a study published by the American Journal of Public Health in November, many of the most popular websites for children carried unhealthy food ads. Correspondingly, the nonprofit Children Now released a report Dec. 14 showing the ubiquity of junk foods alongside many children’s television shows.

In the former, researcher Dr. Lori Dorfman found that advertisements for candies, sodas, fast food, and sugary cereals dominated most children’s websites. From July to August 2007, Dorfman and peers traced the most junk food ads to no less than 28 sites.

These sites advertised 49 products declared by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) as “foods to avoid.” Merely five ads in these sites promoted products favored by the said agency, e.g. milk and fruit juice.

As for the Children Now report, researcher Dale Kunkel also had ruinous statistics.

His report, which was financed by the California Endowment, tracked 139 broadcast and cable TV shows for children between February and April 2009. He eventually found that around 68.5% of the 534 ads that ran with the shows pitched sugary cereals, fast food and sweet snacks—foods branded as “whoa” by the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Whoa” refers to commodities that should only be consumed on occasion. “Go” refers to the opposite, yet Kunkel’s report showed that less than a percent advertised them. Furthermore, 31% of the ads belonged to “slow” foods, or those that should be eaten several times weekly.

Kunkel’s report comes a day before the Federal Trade Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention met to propose new standards for the marketing of children’s food. The agencies generally pushed for restrictions of ads for products rich in sugar, sodium, and saturated fat. Their proposals are due to be delivered to Congress in 2010, following a period for public comment.

In Detroit, Mich. tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 24 from 1 to 4:30 p.m., the Detroit Pistons are hosting several Thanksgiving food distributions.

The funding for the day-long events came from the 2009 Pistons Care Telethon that benefited Feed The Children, a non-profit Christian international relief organization. According to this release from the Pistons, 20 semi-trucks will deliver food and personal care items to 8,000 Detroit-area families in need.

Each family is to receive a 25-pound box of non-perishable food and a 15 pound box of personal care items. Pistons players Ben Gordon and Kwame Brown are also donating about 400 turkeys.

“We are amazed that the money raised by our Pistons Cares Telethon is still benefiting people nearly a year later” said Tom Wilson, Pistons chief executive officer. “As an organization, we relish these opportunities to get out into the community and make a difference in people’s lives. In the economic climate that the state of Michigan is in these days, we, who have the means, should be pulling together and lending a hand wherever, and whenever it is needed.”

The 17-hour Pistons Care Telethon took place on March 11 and raised more than $450,000 in pledges.

That money will be used to feed more than 25,000 families in critical need in the state of Michigan, according to the Pistons. Truck deliveries are taking place May, 2009 through January 2010.

In 2008, Feed The Children distributed more than 133 million pounds of food and other essentials to children and their families in all 50 states and internationally. Feed The Children is also consistently ranked as one of the 10 largest international charities in the country that is based on private, not government, funding.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said last week that it told about 30 manufacturers of alcoholic drinks that contain caffeine they would have to prove the beverages are safe for consumption.

“The increasing popularity of consumption of caffeinated alcoholic beverages by college students and reports of potential health and safety issues necessitates that we look seriously at the scientific evidence as soon as possible,” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, principal deputy commissioner of food and drugs, in a statement.

Of the combined use of caffeine and alcohol among U.S. college students in the few studies on this topic, the prevalence was as high as 26 percent, according to the FDA.

If the manufacturers cannot prove the safety of their products, the FDA threatened to remove the items from marketplace shelves promptly.

The drinks typically combine malt liquor or another type alcoholic drink with caffeine and fruit juices. These can be up to 10 percent of alcohol concentrations.

The FDA alerted manufacturers to the fact that the agency is considering whether caffeine can lawfully be added to alcoholic beverages. The agency said it is unaware of the basis upon which manufacturers may have concluded that the use of caffeine in alcoholic beverages is “generally recognized as safe” or prior sanctioned.

To date, the FDA has only approved caffeine as an additive for use in soft drinks in concentrations of no greater than 200 parts per million. It has not approved caffeine for use at any level in alcoholic beverages.

The companies warned have 30 days to produce evidence, with supporting data and information, to conclude that the use of caffeine in their products is safe.

In late September, the FDA received a letter from 18 Attorneys General and one city attorney expressing concerns about caffeinated alcoholic beverages.

Global spirits major Bacardi Martini India Limited recently launched in Delhi Eristoff premium vodka, a leading international premium vodka brand globally. Eristoff is a pure form vodka with no after taste, just creamy and smooth, according to creators.

Commenting on the development, Mahesh Madhvan, president and chief executive officer of Bacardi Martini India Limited said, “Eristoff is the market leader in many European Markets and with its launch in Delhi we are expanding our footprint within the Indian market.”

Bacardi Limited’s brand portfolio consists of more than 250 brands and labels, including Bacardi rums, Martini and Rossi vermouths, Dewars blended scotch whiskies, Grey Goose vodka, Bombay Sapphire gin, Eristoff Premium Vodka, Cazadores Blue Agave tequila, among other brands.

On Jan. 23, 2009, Geron Corporation was granted clearance by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to start its human clinical trial of GRNOPC1, a human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-based therapy for the treatment of acute spinal cord injury. This trial is said to be the first in the world.

Geron Corporation considers this development as one of its most significant accomplishments so far because through this, they are now able to conduct the world’s first federally approved study of hESC-based therapy for humans. If successful, this will be a major milestone not just for the company but also for the fields of embryonic stem cell research and medical therapeutics.

According to Geron Corporation president and CEO Dr. Thomas Okarma, the clearance of the GRNOPC1 trial serves as a gateway to a new level of healing wherein restoration of organs and tissues is achieved through the injection of healthy replacement cells. Dr. Thomas Okarma added that the goal for the use of GRNOPC1 is “to achieve restoration of spinal cord function by the injection of hESC-derived oligodendrocyte progenitor cells directly into the lesion site of the patient’s spinal cord.”

The initial phase I study will focus on the safety of the cell therapy, although researchers will also try to find signs whether the therapy works. The company has selected seven medical centers to participate in the trial, with the study subject to approval from their internal review boards.

Geron Corporation is an American biotechnology company that specializes in the development of biopharmaceuticals designed to treat cancer and chronic degenerative ailments including heart failure, diabetes, and spinal cord injury. Headquartered in Melo Park, California, Geron Corporation was founded by Dr. Michael D. West. It was incorporated in 1990 and began its operations in 1992. Geron Corporation is considered to be the leading embryonic stem cell developer in the world as it holds exclusive rights on several cell types. Since its incorporation, Geron Corporation has been granted more than 260 patents.

The corporation also helped fund the researchers at the University of Wisconsin when human embryonic stem cells were first isolated in 1998.

Geron Corporation has subsidiaries, namely: Geron Bio-Med Limited, which is wholly owned and located in Edinburgh, Scotland; and TA Therapeutics, Limited in Hong Kong, which is majority-owned.

Geron Corporation is centered on the creation of drugs based on telomere and stem cell research. Geron Corporation is currently advancing an anti-cancer drug (GRN163L) that inhibits the enzyme telomerase. Geron Corporation is also conducting multiple trials at Duke University Medical Center in its efforts to develop a telomerase vaccine (GRNVAC1) for the treatment of prostate cancer in patients. Additionally, Geron Corporation is developing cell-based therapeutics derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESC) to treat different health conditions associated with cell aging, injury, and degenerative diseases. Moreover, Geron Corporation is engaged in the initial development of telomerase-based treatment for HIV named TAT0002 and taken from Astragalus plant.

Due to Geron Corporation’s advancement in telomerase drugs, the pharmaceutical company Merck invested considerably in the biotechnology corporation in 2005.

• Official site of Genron Corporation.
• Forbes profile of Dr. Thomas B. Okarma.
• The National Institute of Health offers some basic facts on stem cell research.