CAMY has recently released its latest report, “Youth Exposure to Alcohol Advertising on Television 2001-2009.” For those who may mistakenly think that this type of advertising does not reach young people, this report will be a real eye opener. Research has found that alcohol advertising on television reaches teens is 71% higher than it was in 2001. In 2001, kids saw an average of 217 ads per year in 2001; the average grew to 366 in 2009, or an average of one ad per day.
Because exposure to alcohol advertising increases the chances that youth will begin drinking, and increases the chances that established teen drinkers will drink more, reducing youth exposure to such advertising is a critical component of any efforts to reduce underage drinking.
Alcohol Advertising and Youth
The research, done by Virtual Media Resources, looked at about 2.7 million advertisements during the time period of 2001-2009. These ads were placed on television at a cost of over $8 billion. The research found that much of the reported increase was due to an increase in the advertising of distilled spirits on cable television. Youth exposure to distilled spirits advertising on television doubled between 2004 and 2009.
Though many alcohol companies also produce and run “responsibility ads”, which they claim are designed to discourage kids from drinking, the CAMY report explains that during the studied time period, young people were 22 times more likely to see a message advertising alcohol than a message discouraging underage drinking.
Youth Overexposure to Alcohol Advertising
Since 2004, the wine, beer, and distilled spirits industry have agreed to a 30% standard for advertising their products. This means that they agree not to advertise their products during programs with underage audiences larger than 30%. Unfortunately, this standard is voluntary, and compliance has not been 100%.
In fact, youth are often “overexposed” to alcohol advertising. Overexposure occurs when ads are more likely to reach underage youth than adults over 21. Cable networks Comedy Central, BET, E!, Spike, and FX were more likely to reach the underage population than legal drinkers in 2009.
Obviously, a voluntary 30% standard is not working. Many have called for a 15% standard, which, if implemented properly, would reduce underage exposure to televised alcohol ads by 14%.
Despite voluntary initiatives by the alcohol industry, youth exposure to alcohol advertising continues to increase. More needs to be done to ensure that this type of advertising does not reach impressionable young people.
Source:
“Youth Exposure to Alcohol Advertising on Television 2001-2009,” Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, 2010.
Susan Carney - I have been working as a middle school counselor with 6th and 7th grade students for the past thirteen years. I received a BA in ...
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