Alcohol Policies Project

Center for Science in the Public Interest

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A response to beer-industry propaganda

 

Beer Ads & Underage Youth

  • Television alcohol advertisements have a significant effect on increasing adolescent alcohol consumption.1

  • Exposure to and enjoyment of alcohol ads influence alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems.2

  • Young teens who had greater knowledge of beer advertisements had more positive views of drinking and anticipated drinking alcohol as adults.3

  • High school students find beer commercials more visually appealing than public service announcements (PSAs).4

  • Watching television and sports contributes to youths' intentions to drink as adults.5

  • Media and alcohol advertisements significantly predict adolescents' knowledge of beer brands, preference for beer brands, current drinking behaviors, beer-brand loyalty, and intentions to drink.6

  • Evidence from other countries shows that complete bans on all alcohol advertising reduce alcohol misuse.7

  • In 2002, beer companies spent more than $972 million in television advertisements, $18 million in radio advertisements, and $55 million in magazine advertisements.8

  • Beer producers showed more ads during the 2002 NCAA basketball tournament (939) than during the Super Bowl, World Series, and NFL Monday Night Football combined (925 total).9

  • The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found that alcohol ads reach large numbers of underage people even if the main target age is of legal age.10

  • In its 2003 report on flavored malt beverage (FMB) advertising, the FTC acknowledged that themes attractive to 21- to 29-year-olds are also popular with people under age 21.  In addition, the FTC recognized that alcohol ads for FMB products, which, because of their sweet taste, appeal to young consumers, may "spill over" to underage people.11

  • Underage youth were exposed to more magazine and radio ads for beer and distilled spirit than adults in 2001.  Only wine was advertised less to children than to adults.13

 

References:

1. Grube, J.W., Madden, P.A. & Friese, B. (1996). The effects of television alcohol advertising on adolescent drinking. Poster Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, Washington, D.C. June 22-27, 1996.

2. Casswell, S. & Zhang, J.F. (1998). Impact of liking for advertising and brand allegiance on drinking and alcohol-related aggression: a longitudinal study. Addiction. 93:1209-1217. Wyllie, A., Zhang, J.F. & Casswell, S. (1998). Positive responses to televised beer advertisements associated with drinking and problems reported by 18- to 29-year-olds. Addiction. 1998. 93:749-760.

3. Jernigan, D.H. (2002). Marketing alcohol to young people: Effects, responses, evaluations and prospects. Paper prepared for the WHO international technical meeting on Marketing and Promotion of Alcohol to Young People, Valencia, Spain. 7-9 May 2002.

4. Pinkleton, B.E., Austin, E.W. & Fujioka, Y. (2001). The relationship of perceived beer ad and PSA quality to high school students' alcohol-related beliefs and behaviors. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. 45(4):575.

5. Gentile, D.A., Walsh, D.A., Bloomgren, B.W., Atti, J.A. & Norman, J.A. (2001). Frogs sell beer: The effects of beer advertisements on adolescent drinking knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. Paper presented at the Biennial Conference of the Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN. April 2001.  Also, see Slater, M.D., Rouner, D., Murphy, K., Beauvais, F., Van Leuven, J. & Rodriguez, M.D. (1996). Male adolescents' reactions to TV beer advertisements: the effects of sports content and programming context. Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 57(4).

6. Gentile, D.A., Walsh, D.A., Bloomgren, B.W., Atti, J.A. & Norman, J.A. (2001). Frogs sell beer: The effects of beer advertisements on adolescent drinking knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. Paper presented at the Biennial Conference of the Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN. April 2001.

7. Saffer, H. (1991). Alcohol advertising bans and alcohol abuse: An international perspective. Journal of Health Economics. 10:65-79.

8. Adams Beer Handbook, 2003.

9. Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (2003). Alcohol advertising on sports television, 2001 and 2002. Fact Sheet. Online: http://camy.org/factsheets/pdf/AlcoholAdvertisingSportsTelevision2001-2002.pdf

10. Evans, J.M. & Kelly, R.F. (1999). Self-Regulation in the alcohol industry. Federal Trade Commission Report to Congress. September 1999. Online: http://www.ftc.gov/reports/alcohol/alcoholreport.htm#Advertising%20Placement

11. Federal Trade Commission. (2003). Alcohol Marketing and Advertising: A Report to Congress. Online: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2003/09/alcohol08report.pdf.

12. Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (2004). Youth Exposure to Alcohol Ads on Television, 2002: From 2001 to 2002, Alcohol's Adland Grew Vaster. Research Report. April 2004. Online: http://camy.org/research/tv0404/report.pdf

13. Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (2002). Overexposed: Youth a target of alcohol advertising in magazines. Research report. September 2002. Online: http://camy.org/research/mag0902/.  Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (2003). Radio daze: Alcohol ads tune in underage youth. Research Report. April 2003. Online: http://camy.org/research/radio0303/.