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ALCOHOL ADVERTISING
AND YOUTH/USA
source: www.marininstitute.org/
Youth/alcohol_ads.htm
alcoholism.about.com/od/
teens/a/bljama040707.htm
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There has been some debate over recent years about whether or not alcohol advertising should be permitted… - on one hand, there is a school of thought stating that by removing advertising, alcohol will take on ‘forbidden fruit’ status and increase it’s appeal to young people. This is one reason why, in some countries, both industry and institutions support such initiatives that seek to convey the moderation message;
- alcoholic beverage advertising bans have not always succeeded in decreasing alcohol consumption – it has been argued. For example, alcohol advertising has been banned in Sweden for more than 25 years, but it has not resulted in an overall decrease in alcohol sales. In fact, in 2002, alcohol sales at Systembolaget, Sweden’s alcohol monopoly, increased by 8% when compared with the previous year. Moreover, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Alcohol Database, 29% of alcohol consumption in Sweden is unrecorded, so the actual rise in consumption is much greater; (1)
- on the other hand, as a report from the WHO underlines, alcohol-related problems pose a significant threat to world health, more so than tobacco use, and are of particular concern in developing countries: alcohol is responsible for 3.5% of global death and disability. WHO called for a reduction of total alcohol consumption by 25% between 1980 and 2000 and lobbies for a ban on alcohol advertising. In particular, the WHO remains concerned about the marketing of alcohol to the young and about the ‘ubiquity’ of drinks advertisements.
Research reports show that exposure to alcohol advertising shapes young adolescents’ attitudes toward alcohol, their intentions to drink, and underage drinking behaviour… - in the United States, in 2002, alcohol companies spent US$1.9 billion on magazines, newspaper, television, radio, and outdoor advertisements, 21.1% of which was used in magazines advertising. Alcohol advertisers spent US$990 million (22% more) for TV ads in 2002 and placed 39% more alcohol ads on TV than in 2001; (1)
- US youth were routinely overexposed to alcohol advertising, in 2001 on at least five networks. Two programming categories - music video and entertainment programmes and variety shows - more effectively, delivered alcohol advertising to the youth audience than to the adult audience. Youth saw 48% more advertising, than adults on music video and entertainment programmes. Variety programmes delivered 26% more advertising to youth audiences than to adults.
- American young people heard more radio advertising for beer and distilled spirits than did people of legal drinking age in 2001 and 2002; (2)
- in 2002, underage youth saw more alcohol advertising than adults in magazines, and girls were even more exposed to this advertising than boys, according to a study in the July 2004 issue of The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine; (1)
- a research carried out by the Georgetown University, Washington, examined readership data from 2001 and 2002 for 103 national magazines in which a total of 6,239 alcohol advertisements appeared. The advertisements were divided according to alcohol type: beer and ales, distilled spirits, low-alcohol refreshers (LARs, i.e. sweet-flavoured alcoholic beverages, alcopops, alcoholic lemonades), and wine. The researchers found that in 2002 underage youth (12 to 20 years of age) in the US saw 45% more beer and ale advertising; 12% more distilled spirits advertising; 65% more LAR advertising; and 69% less advertising for wine than men and women of legal drinking age (21 years and older); (3)
- from 2001 to 2002, both girls' and boys' exposure to alcohol advertisements decreased in every alcohol category except LAR advertisements, which increased by 216% and 46% respectively. For underage boys, 13 brands (11 distilled spirits and two beers) accounted for half of their alcohol advertising exposure. For underage girls, 16 brands of alcohol (14 distilled spirits, one beer, and one LAR) accounted for half of the advertising exposure; (3)
- high intensity point-of-sale advertising is common in convenience stores and combination gas station/convenience markets where 75% of teenagers shop weekly. Alcohol marketing at the point of sale (interior and exterior signage, floor displays and alcohol-branded functional objects such as counter change mats with an alcohol company logo) often includes low height alcohol ads that are in the sight line of children and adolescents as opposed to adults. (4)
(1) [ www.beerwsc.co.nz/files/parliamentary_paper_-_look_at_the_facts_not_the_fiction_v5__feb_2005.pdf]
(2) T Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, Radio daze: alcohol ads tune in underage youth. April 2003.
(3) Jernigan D. H.; Ostroff J.; Ross C.; O'Hara III J. A., “Sex Differences in Adolescent Exposure to Alcohol Advertising in Magazines”, Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, Georgetown University, Washington, DC (USA), in The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, July 2004.
(4) Terry-McElrath, Y.M., Harwood, E.M., Wagenaar A.C., Slater, S., Chaloupka, F.J., Brewer, R.D., and Naimi, T.S. Point-of-Purchase Alcohol Marketing and Promotion by Store Type - United States, 2000—2001, MMWR 52(14):310-313 April 11, 2003.
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