Youth Exposure to Alcohol Advertising on Television, 2001 to 2007

Publication Date:

Publisher: The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, Washington DC

Author(s): The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Abstract:

This study monitors the exposure of youth to alcohol advertising on television from 2001 to 2007, revealing a significant increase in alcohol commercials targeted at this population during that time period despite industry standards established in 2003 to reduce them.
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Alcohol is the leading drug problem among young people, while underage drinking is responsible for approximately 5,000 deaths of under 21-year-olds each year. The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University (CAMY) monitors the marketing practices of the alcohol industry. In this study, CAMY commissioned Virtual Media Resources to analyze all alcohol product and “responsibility” advertising to youth aged 12 to 20 years on television from 2001 to 2007. The voluntary industry standard is no advertising on programming where the audience exceeds 30 percent youth. Data were collected from Nielsen Monitor-Plus and Nielsen Media Research.
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Key Findings:
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* The 30 percent industry standard threshold is working on broadcast television but not on cable channels that generated 95 percent of youth overexposure to alcohol advertising.
* Youths were 22 times more likely to see an alcohol product advertisement than a message about safe drinking.
* The researchers identified 11 brands that account for more than 48.5 percent of youth overexposure to alcohol advertising on television.
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The study concludes that there is an ongoing need to independently monitor where alcohol companies place ads and for them to adopt more meaningful and effective standards to reduce youth exposure to alcohol commercials.