Georgetown Independent

Issue date: 1/31/07 Section: News

In 2001, the alcohol industry spent $780 million dollars on television advertising. In 2005, the industry spent more than $1 billion. The result of this increase: more ads are reaching America's youth, a demographic known for its use and abuse of alcohol.

On December 20, 2006, the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at Georgetown University released the report "Still Growing After All These Years: Youth Exposure to Alcohol Advertising on Television, 2001-2005." The report, which analyzed data from Nielsen media research firms, concluded that efforts to reduce underage exposure to alcohol advertising have been ineffective. It called for tighter restraints on the industry's marketing campaigns.

According to the center's website, CAMY's mission is to "monitor the marketing practices of the alcohol industry to focus attention and action on industry practices that jeopardize the health and safety of America's youth."

Dave Jernigan, the Executive Director at CAMY, emphasizes the center's role in demanding better self-regulation from the industry. "Self-regulation is a growing process. It needs sunlight. We provide that sunlight," he said.

In the report, CAMY brought attention to the 41% increase in the total amount of alcohol advertising viewed by the 12 to 20 year-old age group. A large part of this increase can be blamed on the growth of advertising for packaged, distilled spirits such as Bacardi Ice. Beer remains the most advertised alcoholic beverage on the television market, with total spending of more than $275 million in 2005. The report states that Corona Extra Beer spent nearly $6 million dollars in 2005 placing ads on TV programming more likely to be seen by youth than adults.

The explosion in popularity of cable television also led to the increase in youth overexposure. According to the study, alcohol advertising on cable networks such as Comedy Central, BET and VH1 is more likely to be viewed by teens than adults. Likewise, out of the 15 programs most popular with teenagers-with "Lost," "Desperate Housewives" and "CSI" topping the list-alcohol advertising was featured during all but one.

In May 2006, the Federal Trade Commission faced a request from 20 state attorney generals to engingeer a reduction of the industry standard of 30% maximum youth viewership to 15%. Nevertheless, skepticism exists about whether a decrease in alcohol advertising among youth could have a significant impact on the age group's drinking habits. For a college student bordering on the age divide between legal and illegal, do TV commercials really affect his or her decision to drink?

To find out, I turned to the target audience itself-college students. "These kids aren't starting to drink because they saw an advertisement," says Alan Alegado (MSB '08). "They are drinking because that is part of the social context in which we live. It's just another part of growing up and experiencing adolescence."

Student responses tended to indicate that local vendors, rather than national advertisers, seem to make the difference in the amount and type of alcohol consumed. Most of the students asked said they are most influenced by live promotions at bars or word-of-mouth rather than media advertising. So although teenagers may be watching more Miller Lite commericals than National Geographic, there may be other factors begging to be investigated in the question of underage drinking.

Rettig is an English and Spanish sophomore.

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