Should liquor ads be allowed on television - Essay Example

Should liquor ads be allowed on television? and submitted Introduction It is hard to dismiss the influence of mainstream media in shaping people’s behaviors, beliefs, and perceptions about the external world. Indeed, they are claimed to have the power to construct social realities through the effective, efficient, and strategic dissemination of messages. This nature of mainstream media has been viewed by companies as a relevant way of promoting their products and services to their target markets. In this regard, this paper claims that liquor advertisements should not be allowed on television given its negative effects on the youth. Such position is reinforced by two interrelated reasons. Firstly, most liquor advertisements downplay the factual attributes of the product by focusing on the generation of images and contexts that connote camaraderie, escape, refreshment, and relaxation. Secondly, the youth’s exposure to liquor advertisements often lead to the youth’s heightened interest, trial at young age or increase in frequency and volume of consumption. Liquor Advertising: Toward Owning the Younger Market From a business perspective, advertising is meant to stir the awareness, induce purchase, develop the consumption habit, and build loyalty of the target consumers on the company’s products and services. In the U.S. alone, companies spend nearly $2billion yearly for advertising on both mainstream and digital media, according to a position paper entitled Alcohol Advertising and the Youth (American Academy of Family Physicians 1). Furthermore, almost 2 million advertising placements on television have been made between 2001 and 2006. Approximately 20% of television alcohol advertisements were on programming that the youth age 12 to 20 were more likely to watch than adults of legal drinking age (Safer & Dave 3). This finding reinforces the assumption that the companies deem the youth as primary target market of their advertisements. In a similar vein, a briefing paper entitled The Advertising of Alcohol, in support of Increased Restrictions stated that the broadening of communication venues for liquor advertisements through the addition of sponsorship, competition, and special promotions in the brands’ campaign plan underscore the companies’ goal of communicating the relevance of liquor products to the youth (Alcohol Health Watch 2). All of these findings underscore the companies’ aggressiveness toward owning a significant part of the younger market as they are said to be heavy users of mainstream and digital media; and are generally easier to persuade given their immaturity and natural openness to trying new things. Such characteristic of the youth is exploited by companies by sending messages in media that they would often use in order to drive them to becoming interested, trying, or increasing the consumption of certain liquor products. Advertising Message: Reinforcing Images & Symbols As stated previously, one key reason why liquor advertisements should not be allowed in television involves the way advertising messages are presented—often downplaying or even neglecting the negative sides of drinking and banking more on the positive images and symbols that surround it. A paper entitled The Effects of Alcohol Advertising pointed out that liquor advertisements are created with the major objective of communicating a distinct identity of a liquor brand to their target market through the use of themes and symbols (Atkin & Block 688). As further claimed in this paper, favorable attitudes toward drinking are often highlighted in advertisements by blowing up the positive values regarding the amount, situations, and benefits of alcoholic drinking. Among the promised benefits promoted in the ads are social camaraderie, escape, refreshment, relaxation, social approval, romance, and elegance (Atkin & Block 689). Most characters in the advertisement tend to be above-average both in physical attractiveness and in social stratum. In this light, whiskey drinkers are presented to be friendly, relaxed, fun-loving, happy, manly, successful, sophisticated, and good-looking; while beer drinkers are communicated as mature, fun-loving, young, friendly, and happy. Unfortunately, the factual (and often negative) sides of the alcohol brand and of drinking in general are often neglected in these advertisements as messages on the product’s calorie content and the effects of heavy drinking are not shown. In a survey conducted among the youth who are mostly exposed to liquor advertisements, it was found that “about two-fifths say ads helped them find out which brands would impress others, and which brands famous people drink; about one-third report they discovered how to make mixed drinks, and learned which brands are best; one-fourth recall that they used ads to ascertain cheap prices; one-sixth remember learning information about the taste of different drinks” (Atkin & Block 690). Negative Effects of Advertising Message The negative effects of liquor advertising on the youth is based on the assumption that exposure to advertisements can influence their perception and behavior toward alcoholic drinking. As claimed in the previously mentioned paper entitled Alcohol Advertising and the Youth, students usually spend 18,000 hours in front of the television and watch about 2,000 alcohol commercials on television each year (American Academy of Family Physicians 1). In this regard, increased alcohol advertising on television increased the consumption of alcoholic beverages among the youth. Underage drinkers consume about 25% of all alcohol in the U.S., which is an alarming case considering that the younger the onset of drinking, the increased likelihood of outcomes such as injuries, fatalities and unsafe sex, as well as longer-term outcomes such as alcohol dependence and alcohol-related medical conditions. A 2004 research study led by the students in the University of Southern California showed that a one standard deviation increase in viewing television programs containing alcohol advertisements in seventh grade was associated with an excess risk of beer use (44%), wine/liquor use (34%), and three-drink episodes (26%) (American Academy of Family Physicians 1). Moreover, a longitudinal study published in 2006 on respondents age 16 to 26 discovered a direct correlation between the amount of exposure to alcohol advertising on billboards, radio, television, and newspapers with higher levels of drinking and a steeper increase in drinking over time. The Role of Family, School, and Church While this paper has underscored the power of advertising to inducing trial or increasing the consumption of alcoholic beverages among the youth, it is crucial to also recognize the role of the family, school, and church in the formation of the youth’s perception and behavior toward alcohol and drinking. Thus, thus while the media play a vital role in educating the youth on specific socio-cultural issues, family, school, and church also have key influences on the youth’s well-being. In this light, strong familial relationships and solid educational and religious foundations may deter one person to trying or increasing the consumption of alcohol regardless of the exposure he gets from these advertisements. List of References Alcohol Health Watch. The Advertising of Alcohol, in support of Increased Restrictions. Action on Liquor Legislation, 2003. Web. 17 Mar 2013. . American Academy of Family Physicians. Alcohol Advertising and the Youth. AAFP Org, 2013. Web. 17 Mar 2013. Atkin, Charles & Block, Martin. The Effects of Alcohol Advertising. Michigan State University, Advances in Consumer Research, 1984. Web. 17 Mar 2013. . Saffer, Henry & Dave, Dhaval. Alcohol Advertising and Alcohol Consumption by Adolescents. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2003. Web. 17 Mar 2013. . Read More