ALCOHOL ADVERTISING AND TEENAGERS

Alcohol Advertising and Teenagers

Jared M. Jones
James Madison University

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Abstract
Alcohol has brought people together and torn them apart for years. It comes in many flavors and
various quantities. But what has made this commodity so prevalent? Could it be that it has
become a piece of cultures around the world, or could it be because its everywhere we look?
This matters because with advertisements flooding the internet and television, adolescents have
no choice but to watch them. Everywhere you look from comedy specials to sporting events,
alcohol is advertised. The inquiry of this topic will explore three sources that examine the effects
of advertising alcohol to youth. This examination will ultimately shed light on an issue that is
uncommonly discussed.
Keywords: alcohol, internet, advertisements, television, adolescents

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Alcohol Advertising and Teenagers
Many adults consume alcoholic beverages on a daily basis. They watch television shows,
surf the web, read magazines, and listen to the radio. All of these media sources are flooded with
advertisements. On most websites nowadays you have to watch an ad before a video just like the
television. But do parents realize that their children have access to all of these resources? Todays
youth is exposed to more advertising than past generations. This begs the question: does alcohol
advertising effect underage drinking? The age to drink alcohol in the United States is 21 years
old. However, this is not keeping adolescents from consuming alcohol. Teenagers and young
adults have been drinking underage for years. Since alcohol is one of the most available drugs,
its not surprising that this is a problem. Underage drinking is not only a problem that is not
going away, but a problem that is shockingly underrepresented. Of course there a bigger
problems, but the fact that this issue is hardly talked about is unacceptable. This paper will
examine how alcohol advertising effects juveniles and will ultimately show how problematic
underage drinking really is.
Literature Review
In Collins et al.s online article Forging the Link Between Alcohol Advertising and
Underage Drinking, the authors examine studies by the RAND Corporation. The purpose of
these studies was to see whether or not alcohol advertising does in fact influence youth drinking.
The studies were conducted on middle and high schoolers. The authors also review whether or
not prevention programs can combat the effect that advertisements have. The authors claim that
alcohol consumption amongst adolescents is influenced from ads. They also go on to suggest

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possible solutions or ideas that could lessen this behavior. Overall, this article is filled with
findings from the studies and ultimately relates advertisements to youth drinking.
Next, Siegel et al.s article The Relationship Between Exposure to Brand-Specific Alcohol
Advertising and Brand-Specific Consumption Among Underage Drinkers United States, 2011
2012 is from an academic journal. This article is filled with a lot of statistics from conducted
studies. It is more oriented for those in the health field, rather than the general public. The
authors describe how the studies were conducted and their findings. They display tables and
graphs to show the relationship between alcohol advertising and consumption. The authors of
this article also claim that consumption increases based on advertising exposure.
The third and final article that will be examined is Smith et al.s academic journal article
Regulating Alcohol Advertising: Content Analysis of the Adequacy of Federal and SelfRegulation of Magazine Advertisements, 20082010. This article is interesting because it talks
about the advertisement of alcohol as a whole. Similar to the other journal article, this piece is
filled with statistics and tables. The purpose of this article and research was to see if alcohol
advertisements follow standards and regulations. The authors claim that the majority of alcohol
advertisements adhere to regulations in their findings.
Comparing Ideas and Evidence
On the question of alcohol advertising increasing teen drinking, Collins and Siegel agree
that advertisements do increase the consumption of alcohol among teens. According to Collins et
al., Alcohol advertising appears to promote adolescent drinking. Similarly, Siegel et al. (2015)
stated, consumption prevalence increased steadily with both television and magazine
advertising exposure. Studies were conducted among public school students for Collins et al.s

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findings. They gave the students three questionnaires beginning in seventh grade and ending in
ninth grade. 61 percent of the seventh graders said they had tried alcohol (Collins et al.). Using a
different approach, Siegel et al. (2015) examined advertisements through views and age groups.
They reviewed what ads and the amount of ads that were shown to youth age groups through
television, magazines, and online social media like Facebook. Siegel et al. (2015) used an
analytical approach that, consisted of 898 brand-specific records, each with a value for: that
brands estimated 30-dau consumption prevalence among underage drinkers Although there
was a difference in how both studies were conducted, both authors came to a similar conclusion
that alcohol advertisements increase underage drinking.
Collins et al. and Smith et al. (2014) agree that alcohol advertisements are irresponsible.
Smith et al.s study focuses more on the regulations of these advertisements. They found that out
of 1795 unique ads, only 61 were noncompliant with federal regulations or industry codes.
However, Smith et al.s (2014) conclusion includes this statement, Our findings suggest further
limitations and enhanced federal oversight may be necessary to protect public health. This quote
is interesting because even though the majority of ads are up to standard, the authors believe the
regulations should be stricter. Collins et al. believes that alcohol advertising policy should be
contemplated. As an example, Collins et al. also firmly states that, Given the high rates of beer
advertising awareness among adolescents watching televised sports, the current practice of airing
frequent beer ads during such programming warrants examination. Since many children either
play sports or watch professional ones on television, this is a valid point. So, even though they
did not use the same words to describe this problem, one can see that both authors believe that
current alcohol advertising standards are irresponsible and should be reformed.

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Next, the comparing of Siegel et al. (2015) and Smith et al.s (2014) article is going to be
of a format approach. Both of these sources come from academic journals. Consequently, both
articles are filled to the brim with statistics and tables of their findings. The articles are very
detailed and include a lot of sub-headings. Siegel et al.s (2015) article even includes an abstract.
The articles are somewhat hard to understand at certain times because they are written by and for
doctor. However, one feature that is refreshing are the summations included. The summaries after
certain sections in both articles include words and descriptions that most readers could
comprehend. The reason for approaching this comparison this way is to appreciate the hard work
that goes into these academic journals. The style of both articles is in a topical order and they
offer loads of detail. These two sources were selected for their content, but are more relatable
through style and organization.
Contrasting Ideas and Evidence
One major difference between Collins et al.s article and Smith et al.s (2014) article is
how the authors believe the future of alcohol advertising should be approached. A section of
Collins et al.s article is completely devoted to decreasing underage drinking in the future, while
Smith et al.s (2014) article does not propose anything. As previously mentioned, Smith et al.
(2014) say that to protect the public, current regulations may need to be examined. Instead of
saying should, they say may. This is interesting because for such a strong article about
regulating alcohol advertisements, the authors only form a laissez faire statement in their
conclusion. On the other hand, Collins et al. do the exact opposite. The conclusion of this article
is entirely focused around reducing underage drinking in the future. Alcohol advertising policy
should take all sources of media that effect juveniles into consideration (Collins et al.). Increased
studies of this topic and future research on counteracting underage drinking are proposed. Next,

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school programs are mentioned. Collins et al. state that, Helping children become aware of and
able to counter the multiple sources of alcohol advertising to which they are exposed should be
an important component of school prevention programs. Although most schools have anti-drug
programs, Collin et al. firmly believe alcohol should be a large part of these programs. The future
prevention of underage drinking is the major difference between both of these articles.
Next, the major difference between the Collins et al. article and the Siegel et al. (2015)
article is that Siegel et al. (2015) downplays the significance of the effect advertisements have on
youth. Although both articles agree that advertisements lead to underage drinking, Collins et al.
believes they are more of a problem than Siegel et al. (2015). In the Siegel et al. (2015) article,
similar to the Smith et al. (2014) article, its said that consumption barely increased. The reason it
is similar to the Smith article is because of how little power these statements have. Both the
Smith and Siegel articles have done extensive research and have titles that would lead a reader to
believe that advertising increases alcohol consumption amongst adolescents, but in the
conclusions they lack assertion and bold statements to make a reader believe its true. However,
the Collins et al. article takes a different approach. This article goes into full detail from how
children are aware of alcohol advertisements at young ages to how different ads have different
effects on children. Collins et al. state that, Alcohol advertising does influence youth drinking.
This is the kind of statement all of these articles should contain. A bold statement like this is
what makes people support policy changes and school program ideas. The Collins et al. article
addresses the issue in a bold manner, whereas the other articles dance around the issue in their
conclusions. A problem like underage drinking needs serious messages and serious attention; the
Collins et al. article is the only one of the three to do this.

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Lastly, one major difference between the Smith et al. (2014) article and the Siegel et al.
(2015) article is that they are based on two different studies. Smith et al. (2014) focus on whether
or not alcohol ads meet federal regulations, whereas Siegel et al. (2015) focus on brand specific
consumption of alcohol. Therefore, a lot of the findings in both studies are unrelated. The Smith
et al. (2014) article finds that advertisements that did not meet regulations usually had
sexualized or risky behavior. On the other hand, the Siegel et al. (2015) article finds that
some brands increase consumption more than others. Although these articles are very similar in
format and style, they are essentially about to different, but related, topics. They find different
results about the same topic essentially. Also, the Smith et al. (2014) is the only article out of the
three that isnt solely focused on underage drinkers. It attacks the advertising of alcohol in
general. Ultimately, the difference in these two articles is the fact that they are about two
different issues under the same subject that is alcohol advertising.
Conclusion
Finally, although I have consumed alcohol underage as many of my peers have, I firmly
believe that underage drinking is a problem. Especially after reading the Collins et al. article that
examines surveys taken by seventh to ninth graders. When I was in middle school, alcohol was
not even a thought in my mind. So, learning this was troubling to me and should be troubling to
most. In my former paper, I wrote about viewpoints that stated alcohol advertising did not
increase underage drinking. Now, my viewpoint on this topic has completely changed. Three
different sources, two being form academic journals, all saying the advertising alcohol has
negative effects on adolescents and the population as a whole. I believe schools and parents
should continue to address this problem amongst todays youth. I also plan to continue this new
viewpoint throughout my web page in the near future. It would take a lot of evidence to make me

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go back to my original stand on the topic. Lastly, I am glad I chose this topic over the rest. This
paper has shown me the other side to a problem most college students are not worried about.
Alcohol advertising to youth is wrong, but virtually unavoidable. Through advertisement policy
change and providing children with the information they need, underage drinking can decrease.

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References

Collins, R. L., Ellickson, P. L., McCaffrey, D. F., & Hambarsoomian, K. (n.d.). Forging the link
between alcohol advertising and underage drinking. Retrieved March 19, 2016, from
http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9073.html
Siegel, M., Ross, C. S., Albers, A. B., Dejong, W., King, I. C., Naimi, T. S., & Jernigan, D. H.
(2015). The relationship between exposure to brand-specific alcohol advertising
and

brand-specific consumption among underage drinkers United States, 2011

2012. The

American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 42(1), 4-14. Retrieved

March 15, 2016.

Smith, K. C., Cukier, S., & Jernigan, D. H. (2014). Regulating alcohol advertising: content
analysis of the adequacy of federal and self-regulation of magazine advertisements,
20082010. Am J Public Health American Journal of Public Health, 104(10),
1901-1911.

Retrieved March 15, 2016.