Even though eight downtown Iowa City bars vowed last week to withdraw print media advertising of alcohol specials, local drinking establishments aren’t convinced reducing advertising would cut down on the amount of binge drinking.

The Alley Cat, Bo-James, Fieldhouse Restaurant and Bar, Malone’s, One-Eyed Jakes, Sports Column, Union Bar and Vito’s all promised to withdraw the ads as part of Iowa City’s Stepping Up project, an effort to curb underage and binge drinking.

Pat Greene, manager of Cy’s Roost and Ron’s Deli, 121 Welch Ave., said he does not see the correlation between advertising for alcohol specials and binge drinking.

“It’s [advertising] mostly just to let people know what’s going on,” Greene said. “They can check them out and see where they want to go.”

Tom Northrop, co-owner of Welch Ave. Station, 207 Welch Ave., said he thought advertising drink specials probably would increase alcohol consumption, but he stopped short of saying it would encourage binge drinking.

“In general, the more you advertise alcohol, the more drinking there’s going to be, but I’m not sure about binge drinking,” he said.

The weekly ads for Welch Ave. Station are mostly informative, and the purpose is to familiarize potential customers with the bar’s name, Northrop said.

“If you did not see beer ads in the paper or on TV or heard them on the radio, you would not think about drinking as much,” Northrop said.

Greene said ads run by Cy’s Roost are concentrated in the beginning of each semester or for special events, but their effectiveness wears out as the semester progresses because customers get into routines.

He also said advertising drink specials can sometimes turn into a competition among taverns and bars.

And though Ames bar owners said advertising drink specials is not about binge drinking and more about competition, some area experts think banning drink ads would at the very least be a symbolic gesture.

“The idea that [bars] will be self-regulating is a real positive step,” said Chuck Cychosz, manager of Crime Prevention, Research and Training for the ISU Department of Public Safety. “It needs to be done, and it’s best done by the bars.”

Cychosz also said, though, that it would be unfair to say that the print advertisements of Campustown bars were a major cause of binge drinking.

Linda Ciccone, ISU Substance Abuse Program coordinator, said she is in favor of anything that will discourage too much drinking and thinks what the Iowa City bars are doing is wonderful.

“Drink specials encourage overdrinking,” Ciccone said. “It’s not a responsible message.”

Removing print ads would cut down on individuals participating in spur-of-the-moment drinking but wouldn’t affect regular customers, she said.

Ciccone said one of her biggest concerns has always been ads touting “penny” pitchers, as she thinks they encourage customers to drink more than they should because it’s inexpensive.

“I don’t think beer should ever be less expensive than soda,” she said.

Greene agreed with Ciccone and said advertising and holding penny pitcher specials is “ridiculous” because it encourages customers to drink faster than they should.

But despite thinking the Iowa City bars’ vow was a good idea, Ciccone pointed out convenience stores and liquor stores also sell alcohol and run advertisements for beer and liquor specials.

“It’s unfair to just look at bars because they’re not the only place liquor is sold,” she said.