Branding Politix, Strategic Blueprints, Views on News, public relations • December 9th, 2008

A surcharge on suds?

by Chris Lato

I reference this story in this week’s poll – a movement is afoot to hike taxes on alcohol in Wisconsin.

Trying to raise the tax on alcohol in a state known for its powerful tavern lobby and general love for all things alcohol-enhanced poses a lobbying and PR challenge in the best of times, and the DAs association will likely face an uphill climb with this one.

As sin taxes go, cigarette smoking is generally ostracized in a way that consuming alcohol is not – the anti-smoking lobby has been aggressive and relentless with its PR, turning smokers into the bad guys and pushing them out of public gathering places left and right. Therefore it’s a lot easier to go after smokers with giant tax increases than it is to generate support for taxing booze. (See – or read – ‘Thank You for Smoking’ for a funny take on pro-tobacco spin.)

Also, prosecutors are pointing out that much of the crime they deal with is alcohol-related. Granted. But the money still deals with alcohol abuse after the fact, doing little to tackle the abuse issue BEFORE someone gets arrested for an alcohol-related crime.

In the current economic climate, and in a state that loves its enhanced beverages, this one will likely be a tough sell in the upcoming legislative session. A long, intensive effort to move public thinking over time could get the job done for such a tax hike – but this is not one of those taxes that will sail through state government.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 10:04 am and is filed under Branding Politix, Strategic Blueprints, Views on News, public relations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.