Alcohol And Tobacco Advertising Essay

602 Words2 Pages

How Do Alcohol and Tobacco Ads Affect Youth

Many people say alcohol and tobacco ads on television, in magazines, even at convenient stores encourage youth to start these bad habits. Do these ads really target children? Can these ads really influence kids to start drinking or smoking? Advertisements can have some influences on teens, but the alcohol and tobacco companies say it really cannot. Although these ads can seem appealing to kids by making the people look cool doing it, these ads are not aimed toward these teens.

Many people who watch TV or read magazines have seen numerous alcohol and tobacco ads. In 2001 NBC was the first national network to to air liquor commercials. This ignited a fire for people who think that these ads lead to alcohol abuse. Adam Thierer, the director of telecommunications studies at the Cato Institute, provided evidence that the exposure to alcohol advertising does not lead to increased alcohol consumption by adults or youth. Therefore, parents, not the government should be responsible for discouraging alcohol use among their children.

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For the previous 50 years alcohol companies have been living under a voluntary ban on placement of alcohol ads on TV.

Revenue for the companies have gradually decreased in the past two decades. The companies have also slowly tested the system my sneaking in ads to see how the consumers would react. They also started placing the ads on local TV or cable stations. Finally in 2001 NBC allowed the ads to run on late-evening programs.

Now, twelve billion every year is spent in alcohol advertising. Two million in television ads and $20,000 in magazine ads. The more exposure the more people it reaches, young and old. The thought process is that this advertisement on television exposes everyone. But more importantly, 95% are exposed to our youth and it can influence underage drinking. It can also lead to alcoholism later in life. Alcohol is the leading problem among youth. in 2006, 7.2 million youth, under the age of 21, reported binge drinking (consuming 5 or more drinks in a two hour period).

The Surgeon General reports evidence between marketing and and initiation of tobacco among youths. Ads have become the onset of

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