Commentary

Alcohol Advertising and Young People: What is the Right Mix?

by David Goetzl , March 9, 2011

As part of the Walt Disney Co., the well-respected ESPN sales operation is no doubt religious in adhering to accepted practices when it comes to alcohol advertising and young people. But the sports network is in business. And it always seemed a bit curious to have Diageo plugging Smirnoff on its popular "Pardon the Interruption" at 5:30 in the afternoon.

The Diageo sponsorship might be in line with the alcohol industry's self-regulatory practice, where it refuses to advertise on programs where the under-21 audience makes up more than 30% of the total viewership. Yet, ESPN has such a passionate young-male audience that plugging vodka before cocktail hour can leave a bad taste.

This is not to pick on ESPN. A recent report from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at Johns Hopkins does not mention the network. Instead, it indicates that in 2009, other cable networks Comedy Central, BET, E!, FX and Spike -- while in line with the 30% rule - were "more likely to expose youth per capita" to alcohol ads than adults 21 and over.

MTV and VH1, in contrast, offered "little or no" alcohol advertising since 2007, according to CAMY. The two networks have such high concentrations of young viewers that alcohol marketers may not be able to advertise on them anyway - even if the networks were willing to accept their ads.

Looking at TV advertising at large, CAMY says that in 2009, 7.5% of all alcohol ads (23,718 in total) did run on programs, where the under-21 audience was above the 30% mark, going against the alcohol industry's policy.

The CAMY figures, it is important to note, do include beer ads, which run in greater numbers -- and appear to create less controversy -- than those for distilled spirits. Beer marketers have, however, committed to the 30% limitation.

Along with the National Research Council, Institute of Medicine and 20 state attorneys general, CAMY is advocating altering the 30% voluntary barrier. It wants the alcohol industry to limit its ads to programs, where an audience ages 12 to 20, makes up 15% or less of the viewership.

The figure is "roughly proportionate to the percentage of the population" in the 12-to-20 demo, CAMY says. The lower barrier could reduce youth exposure to alcohol ads on TV by 14%, CAMY estimates.

CAMY and brethren may get their wish. The FTC has announced plans to begin a fourth study into the effectiveness of the alcohol industry's self-regulatory advertising and marketing policies. Its 2003 efforts led to the beer and distilled beverage industries adopting the 30% threshold -- which previously had been at 50%. (One notable difference this time is the FTC plans to look at how alcohol marketers collect data online.)

Alcohol marketers and networks owned by Disney, Viacom and News Corp. surely want to find the right balance on alcohol advertising and young people. Maybe the FTC can spark a productive dialogue. Maybe the various players will just engage in one on their own before the bureaucratic wheels churn slowly.

television, tv

3 comments about "Alcohol Advertising and Young People: What is the Right Mix?".

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Jeffress Gouverneur from Northeast Beverage, March 9, 2011 at 2:26 p.m.
The saying is it's five o'clock somewhere because that is traditionally when it thought to be "cocktail hour". What am I missing before "cocktail hour"? If Smirnoff is advertising at 5:30, sun over the yard arm...
SUN IS OVER THE YARDARM - "(time for happy hour to begin). This expression is thought to have its origins in an officers' custom aboard ships sailing in the north Atlantic. In those latitudes, the sun would rise above the upper yards - the horizontal spars mounted on the masts, from which squaresails were hung - around 11 a.m. Since this coincided with the forenoon 'stand easy,' officers would take advantage of the break to go below for their first tot of spirits for the day. The expression washed ashore where the sun appears over the figurative yardarm a bit later in the day, generally after 5 p.m., and the end of the workday." From "When a Loose Cannon Flogs a Dead Horse There's the Devil to Pay: Seafaring Words in Everyday Speech" by Olivia A. Isil (International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press, McGraw-Hill, 1996). Just saying...
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Douglas Ferguson from College of Charleston, March 9, 2011 at 2:32 p.m.

So beer is not as bad as distilled spirits? I checked the experts and the rule is still one shot of liquor, one glass of wine, and one glass of beer are all pretty equivalent in alcohol. At least with beer you have get a consistent pour, but it still pains me to see my students getting socialized into the it's-no-big-deal world of binge drinking. Truth is, one in seven people who starting drinking alcohol (even during college) later become alcoholics, which is only slightly better odds than playing Russian Roulette.

Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited, April 7, 2011 at 10:31 a.m.

Let's do it the other way around. Research should reflect alcholics and other substance abusers: ages when they began drinking and what entertainment programs were on their radar. Remember, the part of brain that evaluates consequences does not fully develop until 26 years old. No alcohol advertising is the right mix. And no, there is nothing morally wrong with non substance abusing adults having cocktails when not driving, etc.