Drink Up: Alcohol Advertisers Recruit Young Drinkers
Anne Taylor
Anne Taylor is founder and former co-director of Media Awareness Network
Issue Contents
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In North America, more than $1.6 billion US is spent advertising alcohol in traditional media such as television and magazines every year. Additional billions are spent promoting beer and spirits through entertainment and sports sponsorships, and via industry websites (Bonnie & O’Connell, 2003). Increasingly, these messages are being delivered to teens and tweens.
Last year, a comprehensive study released by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at Georgetown University documented the explosive growth in ads on US Network, local and cable TV rose almost 40% between 2001 and 2002, and that all 15 of the programs most popular with 12 to 17 year-olds featured such commercials. In fact, teen favourites such as Survivor, Fear Factor, and That ‘70’s Show registered a 60% increase in alcohol advertisements from the previous year (CAMY 2004a). Astonishingly, teens see more ads for alcohol then they do for jeans, running shoes, chips or make-up (CAMY 2004b).
If the commercials are problematic, the programs themselves play an even more insidious role. An analysis of prime time TV shows in 1999 found that 70% featured positive portrayals of drinking and rarely depicted the consequences of chronic or excessive consumption. Popular movie rentals and rap music recordings showed similar trends (Bonnie & O’Connell, 2003).
And yet the largest percentage of alcohol ads appears not on TV, but in youth-oriented consumer magazines such as Vibe, Spin, Sports Illustrated, Allure and Glamour. The CAMY study concluded that more than half of alcohol print advertising is directed to youth markets, with 25 major alcohol brands spending their entire ad budgets on publications geared towards young people (CAMY 2004).
If you thought the battle over inappropriate targeting of addictive substances had been fought and won when the tobacco companies were roughly condemned for creating the likes of Joe Camel, you can be forgiven for experiencing a sense of déjà vu.
Youth-friendly approaches belie industry denials
A decade ago, when the American Medical Society determined that the ubiquitous smoking cartoon figure was more familiar to 5 year-olds than Mickey Mouse (Fisher et al 1991), Camel cigarettes caved into consumer pressure and retired Joe.
But alcohol manufacturers have adopted similar kid-friendly strategies in their own efforts to win allegiance from customers too young to legally consume their products. And like tobacco manufacturers, parental protests simply inspire new creative approaches. After Mother Against Drunk Driving (MADD) cried fowl over Budweiser’s use of a cute English Bull Terrier mascot, “Spuds Mackenzie, the ultimate party animal”, the beer company built its campaigns around talking lizards and frogs instead.
Closer to home, Molson has promoted extra large beer containers featuring National Hockey League icon and hero-to-kids-across-the-country, Don Cherry. Teens who log onto the brewery’s Iam.ca website (as in “I am Canadian” after the popular TV spot) are enticed to become Molson “Insiders” with the promise of “special offers and giveaways”. They need only claim they’re of drinking age to gain access. In exchange for some personal details, they’re told “you’ll get tons of advance concert info, deals on tickets, and even a shot at some freebies. And whatever Molson has going on with sports, local events in your area, or cool offers from some of our friends… we’ll make sure that you’re in on it” (Molson Canadian 2006).
The hip language and interactive nature of Molson’s site is a classic example of “relational marketing”, seen by many experts as key to attracting youth audiences, who are particularly susceptible to coolness and belonging appeals (CAMY, 2004c). Although alcohol advertisers typically deny that their strategies are deliberately targeted to teens, they’ve become masters of the approach known to be the most effective at reaching them.
A review of 74 alcohol web sites in 2003 found widespread use of the kind of interactive quizzes, games, cartoons, and graphics guaranteed to retain young surfers. Soft porn pictures of scantily clad young women, instant messaging accessories and customized music downloads had little to do with the quality or taste of the alcohol being sold and everything to do with whose attention was being sought (CAMY, 2004c).
On yet another front, some advertisers are paying hip-hop artists for the musical equivalent of product placements. Petey Pablo, for example, in his 2004 hit, Freek-a-leek, sings, “Now I got to give a shout out to Seagram’s Gin, cause I’m drinkin’ it and they payin’ me for it” (Pablo, 2003).
Most artists aren’t quite so frank about the business transaction behind these promotions, but the practice is common enough that companies have been established just to negotiate such deals (McArthur, 2005). Last year, a San Francisco based agency, Agenda Inc., documented 251 references to brand name beverages in top Billboard hits. These included implied endorsements of Hennessy cognac, Bacardi rum, Dom Perignon, and a half dozen other alcoholic products by artists such as 50 Cent, Juvenile and Li’l Jon (Agenda Inc. 2005).
Financial benefits of targeting youth
Do these promotional efforts deliver results? Although alcohol has long been a means for teenagers to flout authority and prove themselves among peers, experts agree that the pervasive messages in advertising and popular culture play a significant role in both the increasing volume of alcohol being consumed by young drinkers, and the decreasing age at which they start.
Almost 20% of the alcohol sold south of the border is consumed by Americans under the age of 21 (the legal age in the US) (NCASACU, 2006). In 1999, spending by underage drinkers constituted $22.5 billion of the $116 billion spent on alcohol. As a report conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University concluded: “Without underage drinkers, the alcohol industry, and the beer industry in particular, would suffer severe economic declines and dramatic loss of profits” (NCASACU, 2006, p. ii).
Here in Canada, Ontario research has also documented increases in the number of adolescents who drink. From 1993 to 1999, drinking by high school students rose almost 10% from 56.5% to 65.7%. Binge drinkers – those consuming more than five servings of alcohol on a single occasion – also increased dramatically, from 4.2% of Ontario students in 1993, to 7.1% six years later (McKenzie, 2000, p. 2).
Commercial promotion has a direct impact on the consumption levels of high school students. Regular and repeated exposure of 12 to 22 year olds to alcohol advertising normalizes drinking, positioning it as a means to achieving popularity and ensuring fun. It effectively pre-programs them to drink, encourages them to consume more, and makes it difficult for those with problems to stop (McKenzie, 2000, p. 1-3).
Consider how the to following messages are likely to resonate with teens in your class:
Absolute Vodka features a combination Ipod, cell phone and Playstation in the unmistakable shape of its vodka bottle under the slogan, “Absolute Latest.”
Jim Bean equates “Real friends” with “Real bourbon” showing a bunch of young men in a bar above the suggestion that “There’s no disagreement that arm wrestling can’t resolve.”
Bacardi features two beautiful young women wearing halter-tops and tight jeans, playfully pulling down the pants of a male. The text explains: “Asset manager by day, Bacardi by night.”
Teens are particularly vulnerable to the subtly promoted myths in advertisements like these and more likely than adults with greater life experience to buy into industry messages. Implied promises about alcohol’s apparent ability to enliven every party, to create an automatic association between the drinker and the beauty, prestige and sophistication of the people in the ads, and to deliver machismo and sex, are especially seductive to teens. When asked why the drink, youth typically identify the desire to become more assertive, fun or happy; they want the alcohol to help them to relax and become less inhibited sexually (NCASACU, 2006).
Trend has serious health risks for both girls and boys
Regrettably, alcohol actually delivers on at least one of these promises, putting young women at increased risk in the process. Teenage girls who drink are more likely to be sexually assaulted, and more inclined to engage in dangerous sexual activity, exposing themselves to higher incidences of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (NCASACU, 2003, p. iv-v, p. 16).
Until recently, teenage boys drank much more than girls, but the gap is rapidly disappearing. Although a US study released in 2000 found that the male students in the 12th grade still drank more than there female counterparts, teen boys and girls in the 9th grade were equally likely to both drink (40.2% and 41%), and binge drink (21.7% and 20.2%) (NCASACU, 2003, p. 10).
This kind of equality is hardly progress. Beyond the sexual risks, women and girls often experience more severe physical consequences from alcohol than their male counterparts. They’re more likely to become intoxicated and more vulnerable to alcohol-induced brain damage, liver disease, and cardiac problems (NCASACU, 2003, p.3, 17).
Teen boys who abuse alcohol, on the other hand, run into different problems. Beer and spirits are implicated in the top three causes of teen death, which disproportionately affect boys: accidents (including traffic fatalities and drowning), homicide and suicide (NCASACU, 2006, p. ii, p. 17).
Not surprisingly, students who abuse alcohol are also more likely to drop out, be suspended, or fail a grade. Where too much partying and a corresponding lack of studying were once blamed for such problems, current studies now point to more serious long-term damage to still-developing brains (NCASACU, 2006).
Preliminary research suggests that teens who drink excessively may be destroying mental capacity at a faster rate than older drinkers and, in the process, damaging their capacity to learn. Alcohol-dependant youth are more inclined than others to make decisions based on instant gratification, to fare poorly on language and attention tests, and to have greater difficulty recalling information (NCASACU, 2006, p. 14-15).
So what’s a teacher to do?
Educators understandably feel limited in their capacity to take on the alcohol industry when governments themselves are failing to reign in the kind of promotional excesses creating these problems. Although guidelines exist on both sides of the border that discourage the direct targeting of underage drinkers, its clear that regulatory bodies are hopelessly outmatched by wealthy and inventive beer and spirit companies.
What teachers can do, however, is to challenge the myths about alcohol and drinking in the context of media literacy lessons. Teenagers immersed in popular culture are easily engaged in studies that allow them to explore and write about the very forms of media they gravitate to outside of school. Teaching them to deconstruct the compelling visuals and unpack the unspoken promises of alcohol print and broadcast campaigns gives you an opportunity to address a critical social issue, and helps them to become more aware of the ways in which they’re being manipulated.
It’s a context that’s sorely needed.
Media Awareness Network (MNet) has produces a series of 10 lessons for Grades 4 to 10 called The Target is You! designed to help kids become more savvy about the ways in which they’re targeted by alcohol advertisers. You can access these lesson plans by going to the home page of MNet’s web site (www.media-awareness.ca) and clicking on The Target is You! icon.
References
Agenda Inc. (2005) American Bandstand. Retrieved March 6, 2006 from
http://www.agendainc.com/brand04.html
Bonnie, R. J. and O’Connell, M.E. (eds.) (2003). Reducing underage drinking – a collective responsibility. Institute of Medicine National Research Council. Washington D.C.: National Academies Press.
Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. (2004a). Number of Alcohol ads bombarding teens rose in 2002. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University. Retrieved Feb. 10, 2006 from http://camy.org/press/print/php?ReleaseID=20
Center on Alcohol marketing and Youth. (2004b). Executive Summary: Youth Exposure to Alcohol Ads on Television, 2002: From 2001 to 2002, Alcohol’s Adland Grew Vaster. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University. Retrieved Feb. 10, 2006 from http://camy.org/research/tv404/
Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. (2004c). Clicking with Kids: Alcohol Marketing and Youth on the Internet. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University. Retrieved Feb. 10, 2006 from http://camy.org/research/internet0304/
Fisher, P.M., Schwartz, M. P., Richards, J.W. Jr., Goldstein, A.O., and Rojas, T.H. (1991). Brand logo recognition by children aged 3 to 6 years. Mickey Mouse and Old Joe the Camel. Jama. 1991 Dec. 11: 266(22):3145-8
McArthur, K. (2005). Ronald McDonald recruits a new posse. The Globe and Mail, 29 March 2005, p. A1
McKenzie, D. (2000). Under the Influence? The Impact of Alcohol Advertising on Youth. The Association to Reduce Alcohol Promotion in Ontario. Toronto, On. Available at This URL
Molson Canadian (2006). Molson Insider. Retrieved March 6, 2006 from http://www.iam.ca/insider/
NCASACU (2003). The formative years: Pathways to Substance Abuse Among Girls and Young Women Ages 8-22. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. New York, NY. Retrieved May 20, 2006, from http://www.casacolumbia.org/pdshopprov/files/151006.pdf
NCASACU (2006). Teen Tipplers: America’s Underage Drinking Epidemic. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. New York, NY. Retrieved May 20, 2006, from this URL
Pablo, P. (2003). Freek-a-leek. Retrieved March 6, 2006 from Lyrics Archive
http://www.thelyricarchive.com/lyrics/freekaleek.shtml
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