Big Alcohol takes aim at young people
- Oct 15, 2007 - 1
Media watchers have complained for years about the alcohol industry’s blatant campaign to market their products to children. Many of these media watchers have no particular religious affiliation; they just want what’s best for the nation’s children. From all indications, that’s not what the alcohol industry wants.
The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., has just released the explosive results of yet another study that proves beyond a doubt what the alcohol industry is up to.
The study, titled Youth Exposure to Alcohol Advertising on Radio, 2006, analyzed 337,602 alcohol product advertisements in 28 of the largest radio markets in the U.S. in 2006. The key findings:
- In 2006, more than a third of advertising placements for alcohol products in 28 of the largest radio markets (120,299 or 35.6%) were on programming that youth, ages 12-20, were more likely to hear on a per capita basis than adults.
- Advertisements on programming that youth were more likely to hear than adults accounted for more than half (58%) of youth exposure to alcohol advertising on the radio.
- Approximately one in twelve alcohol advertisements (27,682 or eight percent) were on programming with youth audience compositions greater than the alcohol industry’s voluntary maximum of 30%, and 18 out of 143 brands placed 20% or more of their advertisements above that threshold.
- Twenty-six brands placed more than half of their advertisements on programming that youth were more likely to hear on a per capita basis than adults.
The alcohol pushers know what they are doing. “Despite competition from iPods, instant messaging, and the Internet, radio remains a popular medium among youth,” the study reports. “Ninety-one percent of teens listen to the radio weekly, while 65.5% listen to it every day. Comparing genders, 87.9% of males ages 12-17 are radio listeners, listening to an average of 11 hours and five minutes per week while 94% of females in this age group are tuned in, listening on average 14 hours per week.”
One need not be a marketing executive to understand the gravity of those numbers. In the all-important youth demographic, it’s a dream come true for the alcohol industry which, like the tobacco companies, must recruit new users to replace those who die from the effects of a lifetime of physical debasement from using their products.
“Although communities across the nation have made significant efforts to reduce youth access to alcohol, underage drinking remains a widespread and tragic public health problem,” CAMY reports. By their senior year in high school, 45% of young people report drinking with the past 30 days, and 25% reported binge drinking of five or more drinks in a row within the past two weeks, CAMY states.
Anheuser-Busch Cos., Inc., of St. Louis, one of the largest pushers of alcoholic misery in the country, predictably dismissed the study in a statement quoted by Associated Press. “Preventing underage drinking is about preventing youth access to alcohol, not about what a teen does or doesn’t hear on the radio,” said company Vice-President Carol Clark.
Now, how’s that for intellectual dishonesty? Clark says teens don’t drink because of what they hear on the radio, while her company is a large and influential part of an industry that inarguably aims its radio advertising squarely at young people.
Well, which is it? They seem to want it both ways — but what they really want is our children. Will yours be next? Think about it.
This article is reprinted from the September 27, 2007, issue of The Baptist Record, the newspaper of the Mississippi Baptist Convention.
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1 comments (post your own) feed
1 On Sep 3rd, 2008, at 1:07pm, Ken P. wrote:
The Deadly Duo: Big Tobacco and Big Alcohol.
One of the largest beer companies makes Miller Beer. Miller is owned by Philip Morris, which was the target of law suits because their products killed people.
P.M just changed its name to Altria, and it owns Marlboro, Basic, Black and Mild, L&M;, Parliament, and Virginia Slims.
Think about this next lie. We were all brought up hearing things like:
“...real men can hold their drink.’
Well, actually, the manliest of men don’t drink at all! M.D’s know that the easily identified symptoms of alcohol abuse in men are shrunken testicles and enlarged breasts. The simple truth is that alcohol suppresses male hormones.
Finally, alcohol companies go to great lengths to wrap themselves in the flag. Until this summer, there was one beer company still owned by America...Budweiser. Within the last few weeks Budweiser sold its shares to InBev, a huge Belgian company.
If you are into the truth, you might pass this reading on to others.