A new study by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at
Georgetown University has found alcohol marketers are reaching more
young viewers by focusing more attention on cable TV.
According to the
research, alcohol companies significantly increased their advertising
activity on cable television. As a result, the number of cable network
alcohol ads that were more likely to be seen by underage youth than
adults on a per capita basis rose 97 percent from 2001 to 2004.
CAMY, which is supported by grants from The Pew Charitable Trusts and
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, conducted an analysis of more than
one million television ads placed between 2001 and 2004 on broadcast,
cable and local television and worth almost $3.5 billion.
The analysis
shows high levels of underage youth exposure to these ads despite the
industry's self-regulation of its marketing and advertising practices
and despite repeated public opinion poll findings that parents want
their children exposed to less of this advertising.
"Exposure to alcohol ads influences youth drinking behavior," said CAMY
research director Dr. David Jernigan. "Kids need to see fewer of these messages glamorizing alcohol use, not
more."
Key findings of the analysis include:
Overall spending on alcohol advertising on television grew from 2001
to 2004. Annual expenditures grew from $774 million to $915 million
between 2001 and 2004 and totaled almost $3.5 billion during this
period.
Spending on cable advertising grew dramatically. Distilled spirits
advertisers increased the number of ads they placed on cable networks
by 5,687 percent, from 645 ads in 2001 to 37,328 in 2004. Distilled
spirits advertisers' spending on cable networks increased 3,392
percent, from $1.5 million to $53.6 million.
At the same time, beer
marketers also substantially increased their advertising on cable
networks. The number of beer ads was up 113 percent during this period,
from 38,810 ads to 82,559, and beer spending on cable networks
increased 54 percent, from $137 million to $211 million.
Youth exposure to alcohol advertising shifted to cable television.
Every year from 2001 to 2004, more alcohol advertising reached youth on
cable networks than on broadcast networks. In 2001, youth ages 12 to 20
saw a little more than one alcohol ad for every two seen by adults age
21 and older on broadcast networks.
That ratio had dropped to a little
less than one for every two by 2004. However, on cable television
alcohol companies exposed youth to three ads for every four seen by
adults in 2001 and increased that ratio to nearly four for every five
by 2004.
Overexposure of youth to alcohol advertising overall remains
constant. Youth overexposure to alcohol advertising occurs when youth
are over-represented in the audience viewing an alcohol ad relative to
their presence in the general population, and thus are more likely per
capita to see the ad.
Throughout this period, the percentage of alcohol
ads on television that were more likely per capita to be seen by
underage youth than adults remained relatively stable, with 23 percent
falling into that category in 2004. Almost half (44 percent) of youth
exposure to alcohol ads on television in 2004 came from overexposing
ads.
Teen programming remains popular with alcohol advertisers. The CAMY
analysis shows that alcohol advertising was seen on all of the 15 shows
most popular with teen audiences, ages 12 to 17, each year from 2002 to
2004.
The alcohol industry is not meeting its own standards. The study
shows that the voluntary industry guideline restricting placement of
ads to shows where 30 percent or less of the audience is under the age
of 21 has not been met overall.
While the percentage of alcohol ads on
broadcast network television above the 30 percent youth threshold
dropped to a negligible 0.4 percent in 2004, the percentage of alcohol
ads on cable network television above the 30 percent youth threshold
remains high. In 2004, 13.4 percent of the alcohol industry's ads on
cable exceeded the industry's own standard.
In fact, the number of
cable network alcohol ads above the 30 percent youth threshold actually
increased to 18,027 in 2004, up from 9,235 in 2001.
"Parents, families and teachers face the tragic consequences of teen
alcohol use every day," said Jernigan.
"Alcohol companies need to adopt more effective standards to protect
our kids from exposure to a barrage of advertisements for a product
they are not allowed to purchase."
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