# Oh noes! Wolverine is selling beer to children! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [July 22, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251 "2013-07-22T21:10:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/1 "2013-07-22T21:10:26Z")
I’m all for questioning marketing aimed at kids, but [this](http://www.phaionline.org/2013/07/22/coors-light-and-the-wolverine-market-beer-to-underage-youth/)seems to me to be uninformed pearl-clutching at its most ridiculous: > [@The Public Health Advocacy Institute](#): > > Why is a beer company using a PG-13 movie based on a popular comic book to promote its beer? And hasn’t Coors made this mistake before? . . . This campaign fits with Coors Brewing Company’s history of targeting young film audiences with its alcohol advertising. The Wolverine comes out July 26—it should ditch it’s [sic] partnership with Coors Light beer now. Seriously? This argument is premised on the idea that PG-13 movies and comic books are both exclusively aimed at children. Trust me, I’ve got a 40 year old who will happily regale me with the finer details of the Hulk’s showdown with Wolverine, or why the Green Lantern movie wasn’t really boring and incomprehensible, if you know the story already. I’m also pretty sure there were a lot of 21-40 men who thought that commercial was amusing and appealing. I really want these people to sit down and read some of Alan Moore’s more twisted work and experience a total nervous breakdown as they imagine all the children reading these comics! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/2 "2013-07-22T21:12:34Z")
I thought you said Wolverine was selling beer? Coors Light hardly qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/3 "2013-07-22T21:28:01Z")
Wow, he would be the best shotgunner ever! Can Wolverine get drunk with a healing factor? I’m sure there’s some in-universe explanation… > [@silenus](#): > > I thought you said Wolverine was selling beer? Coors Light hardly qualifies. Well, he’s Canadian. He should sell Molson, the beer that Candians try to pretend is actually different, better, and higher alcohol content compared to Coors (guess which are true). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/4 "2013-07-22T21:32:59Z")
Oh, yeah. Logan can get _real_ drunk when he wants to. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/5 "2013-07-22T21:43:34Z")
He can get drunk…he just gets over it a lot faster than anybody else. I don’t see him drinking Coors! He’d use Coors to rinse out his worst injuries. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/6 "2013-07-22T23:40:00Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Well, he’s Canadian. He should sell Molson, the beer that Candians try to pretend is actually different, better, and higher alcohol content compared to Coors (guess which are true). What about Labatts? Or, better still, something from [Unibroue](http://www.unibroue.com/en/home). ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/7 "2013-07-22T23:50:57Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > He can get drunk…he just gets over it a lot faster than anybody else. > > I don’t see him drinking Coors! He’d use Coors to rinse out his worst injuries. Well yeah, since that Rocky Mountain Spring Water they use to make Coors is so pure it would be an ideal wound-cleanser. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/8 "2013-07-22T23:58:40Z")
As someone who has followed Wolverine since X-Men #96, selling beer sounds entirely in character. In fact, I expect him to be pitch-man for cigars next. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/9 "2013-07-22T23:58:43Z")
Convincing kids that their first taste of beer should be Coors is practically a PSA against drinking. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/10 "2013-07-23T00:51:55Z")
What would they rather he sold? Knives? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/11 "2013-07-23T01:40:46Z")
There is a mindset that comic books are for children and that’s that. [There was a case about ten years ago](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_v._Texas) where a comic book retailer was convicted of selling an adult comic, market as adult and kept in a section that said “Adults only.” The prosecution said “comics are for children” and argued that the comics were to entice kids to read the obscenity. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/12 "2013-07-23T01:52:37Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > I really want these people to sit down and read some of Alan Moore’s more twisted work and experience a total nervous breakdown as they imagine all the children reading these comics! Shucks, having a little too much to drink is pretty much the _ **least** _ objectionable thing the Comedian does. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/13 "2013-07-23T02:19:51Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > There is a mindset that comic books are for children and that’s that. [There was a case about ten years ago](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_v._Texas) where a comic book retailer was convicted of selling an adult comic, market as adult and kept in a section that said “Adults only.” The prosecution said “comics are for children” and argued that the comics were to entice kids to read the obscenity. That happens a lot; the idea of comics intended to be read by adults simply doesn’t occur to people. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/14 "2013-07-23T10:25:30Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > As someone who has followed Wolverine since X-Men #96, selling beer sounds entirely in character. In fact, I expect him to be pitch-man for cigars next. Didn’t he stop smoking some time ago? (Due to being around kids all the time, IIRC, funnily enough.) (Still drinks, though.) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/15 "2013-07-23T16:37:01Z")
Well, that ad was targeted at children who were _already_ heavy drinkers. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/16 "2013-07-23T16:56:36Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > What would they rather he sold? Knives? Right! Knives are safe, Coors is dangerous! ---
**Author:** ![RogueRacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RogueRacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RogueRacer)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/17 "2013-07-23T17:57:11Z")
Drinking beer would have to be better than the heroin that is apparently all the rage in high schools these days. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/18 "2013-07-23T19:01:42Z")
> [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](#): > > That happens a lot; the idea of comics intended to be read by adults simply doesn’t occur to people. Ahhh! I’m 30 and I love Wolverine. What is more apropos than beer? I’ve been reading my husband’s old _Wolverine_ comic books, along with pretty much everything else X-men. The 1980s and 1990s Marvel books are full of advertisements for action figures and toys. Right now I’m collecting the current title _Wolverine and the X-men_. You know what they advertise now? Life insurance. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/19 "2013-07-23T19:17:19Z")
On the one hand, I see your point: it’s ludicrous to think all comic books are written for or solely enjoyed by or even marketed to children (especially under 12). There is a heavy market of adults interested in comic books, including titles like X-men. On the other hand, there is extensive marketing of X-men to children. So it’s not ridiculous to think that children (or at least teenagers) will be watching these commercials on TV and connecting them with material that they are interested in watching and expected to have access to. Thus the concern that the marketing campaign is a sneaky way to market to teenagers. It is a complicated topic when one product is exclusively limited to adults and a different product has cross-market appeal. If the ad campaign were limited to bars and premovie ads for Rated R movies, etc, then it could be more strongly argued it is not intended to interest teenagers. That would also reduce the visibility of the campaign to the claimed adult market, and thus the effectiveness of the campaign. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251/20 "2013-07-23T19:36:44Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Didn’t he stop smoking some time ago? (Due to being around kids all the time, IIRC, funnily enough.) > > (Still drinks, though.) He stopped smoking only because Joe Quesadilla’s father died of lung cancer. Ditto for Nick Fury, the Thing, pretty much any Marvel character. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-wolverine-is-selling-beer-to-children/664251.md?page=2)