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Alcohol brands in violation of US advertising guidelines
Violations of the US alcohol industry’s advertising standards are most common in magazines with sizable youth readerships, according to a new study from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth in the US.
According to the report, industry violation includes ads appearing to promote underage drinking, highlighting the high alcohol content or displaying alcohol alongside activities that necessitates full alertness and coordination, such as swimming.
Researchers analysed 1,261 ad samples for alcopops, beer, spirits or wine that appeared more than 2,500 times in 11 different magazines that are likely to have at least a 15% youth readership.
Each ad was looked at by different risk codes such as injury content, over-consumption content, addiction content, sex-related content and violation of industry guidelines.
“The finding that violations of the alcohol industry’s advertising standards were most common in magazines with the most youthful audiences tells us self-regulated voluntary codes are failing,” said CAMY director and study co-author David Jernigan, PhD.
“It’s time to seriously consider stronger limits on youth exposure to alcohol advertising.”
The results were that one in five ads contained sexual objectification. Spirits, such as brandy, Tequila, rum, vodka and whisky accounted for two-thirds of ads and beer accounted for 30% of ads.
Ten of the most advertised brands, which mainly consisted of spirits and beer, accounted for 30% of the ads, while seven brands were responsible for more than half of the violations of industry marketing guidelines.
The study was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
In reaction, Lisa Hawkins, vice president Public Affairs, Distilled Spirits Council said, “A study, which characterises all advertisements that depict someone holding or being handed an alcohol beverage near a body of water as “risky content” defies common sense.
“CDC’s funding would be better spent on evidence-based programs to reduce underage drinking versus a subjective review of magazine ads that are anywhere from nearly 5 to 9 years old, which is not relevant to today’s marketplace.
“What is relevant is that alcohol consumption and binge drinking rates among 8th, 10th and 12th graders have continued their long-term decline, reaching historically low levels, according to federal government data. Simply put, CAMY’s claim that alcohol advertising is causing teens to drink is disproved by the federal government data and unsupported by the body of scientific literature.”