Should alcohol ads be allowed on television?

[Karmadillo]

I noticed one during the Vikings-Packers game today and I was wondering why we allow them given how many kids are watching.

http://www1.georgetown.edu/explore/documents/index.cfm?Action=View&DocumentID=1276&Media=print

TV Alcohol Ads Bombarding Teens Continue to Rise
According to a study conducted by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at Georgetown University, alcohol advertising on television maintained steady growth between 2001 and 2003, driven in part by an explosion of distilled spirits ads on cable television.

The Center found that nearly 90,000 more alcohol ads aired on television in 2003 than two years earlier, with the greatest increase occurring between 2001 and 2002. The same was true for the number of ads that underage youth were more likely to see on a per capita basis than adults -- ads that "overexposed" youth. In 2001, 51,084 ads were more likely to be seen by youth, ages 12 to 20, than by legal-age adults; this number jumped to 69,054 by 2003.

"Every single day, 7,000 kids under age 16 take their first drink, and $6 billion of alcohol advertising and marketing each year isn't helping," said Jim O'Hara, executive director of the Center, citing a federal survey released in September that showed no change in high underage drinking levels. "More of the same is not progress, and this report shows that that is what we are seeing from the alcohol industry."

Key findings from the study include:

Alcohol advertising on television continued to grow from 2001 through 2003.

While spending on advertising decreased by 11 percent between 2002 and 2003, the number of alcohol ads that aired continued to rise, reaching 298,054 in 2003.

Underage youth continue to see high levels of alcohol advertising on television.

The number of alcohol ads overexposing youth rose each year between 2001 and 2003, from 51,084 to 66,218 to 69,054 in 2003. More than 23 percent of the alcohol ads that aired on television in 2003 were more likely to be seen by youth than adults on a per capita basis, a level similar to 2001 and 2002 levels.

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[candy]

1. Sure,why not? Doesn't bother me and never has. n/t

[Liberal Veteran]

2. I must admit I have problems with ads encouraging drug use

But that's just me.

[gollygee]

4. Yes, and all the prescription drugs bother me too

The prescription drug ads bother me more, personally.

[Liberal Veteran]

5. Yep....those bother me more too because the costs that are passed on..

....to consumers.

[RoeBear]

6. Not true

advertising brings the unit cost of products down.

For example who would know to buy Viagra (or one of it's competitors)
without advertising.

[Liberal Veteran]

8. Not to put too fine a point on it...but BULLSHIT.

Between January 1 and May 30 of 2004, Bristol-Myers Squibb spent about $35 million on advertising Plavix, a blood thinner. In the first three months of 2004, the price charged by manufacturers to wholesalers for Plavix rose by 7.9%. Bristol-Myers spent about $7.2 million in the first five months of 2004 to advertise Pravachol, a cholesterol-lowering drug. It rose in price in the first quarter by 7.0%.

Merck spent $42 million to advertise Zocor, another cholesterol-lowering drug, during the first five months of the year. Although the price charged to wholesalers in the first quarter remained steady, between 1999 and 2003, it rose 25.8%.

[RoeBear]

11. Supply and

demand explains it.

Possibly, I should have said advertising 'can' lower the prices of drugs.

[Liberal Veteran]

13. "Can" but rarely ever does....

In the real world, the only drug prices that have ever gone down was when the generic version his the market and illegal drugs like heroin and meth.

[wickerwoman]

16. Because their doctors told them to buy it?

Isn't that the main reason people take prescription drugs?

I can see advertising to doctors to explain the benefits of one kind of blood thinner vs another, but what's the point of advertising prescription meds to the general public?

[LeftyMom]

17. Errr, people who can't get it up and talk to thier doctor

or read an article in a newspaper or magazine or look it up on the internet or hear about it via word of mouth...

People somehow managed to hear about this stuff way back in the dark ages when these things weren't advertised on TV. For that matter the zillions of prescription meds that don't get advertised still get used. If I have a nasty pus filled infection or my athsma is flaring up I don't turn the tube on and hope to see an antibiotic or athsma med ad, I make an appointment with my doctor.

[American Tragedy]

18. Now that is definitely bullshit

Doctors prescribe the appropriate medication at their discretion, according to the medical condition of their patient.

Certainly you should do your own research whenever you have some illness, but what the hell kind of individual just marches into a doctor's office and asks for a particular drug they saw in some bizarre ambiguous ad spot on TV?

Look around a doctor's office sometime. See the clocks, the clipboards, the pens? The medical-industrial complex makes damned sure that doctors are aware of all the latest drugs. You hardly need to remind them.

Furthermore, I think we all know the real reason for the media bombardment. Count the number of prescription drug ads that are attached to news programs and the networks that broadcast them. It's a very thinly veiled payoff. You better not investigate us, 60 Minutes!

[jmowreader]

35. A LOT of people do that now

In a former life, one of my customers was a urologist. I was talking to him about these hardon pill ads. "Do people really come in and ask if Viagra is right for them?"

'Yeah, all the time. They'll come in and say they have a hard time getting it up sometimes, so they need some Viagra. I'll examine them and there'll be nothing wrong, I'll explain that having a hard time getting it up sometimes is normal, but they'll still want Viagra. So what can you do? There are twenty urologists in town, someone will write you a Viagra prescription."

I've talked with other doctors about this, people who have been in medicine since before the consumer-focused ad campaigns for ethical drugs started, and they all report the same thing: people will see an ad for a drug then come to the clinic demanding it. And they know the same thing my urologist friend does: there are too many doctors in Fayetteville for someone to stand up and say "no, you don't need that drug so I won't prescribe it." They'll prescribe so long as the drug won't harm the patient. "If you take this, it will kill you" kinda saps demand for the stuff, y'know?

I'll agree with the media-payoff theory, largely because it's true, but those consumer ads for Claritin are there for a reason!

(The ads I've never figured out are for BASF, DuPont's specialty chemical businesses, and other companies that don't sell products to the general public. BASF will tell you "we don't make the wedding dress, we make it whiter." The product that makes the wedding dress whiter is titanium dioxide, which comes in 55-gallon drums, 330-gallon totes and tank cars. There may be 5000 people in the country who buy this raw material on a regular basis. These have to be media payoffs because BASF makes exactly one product people buy in the form BASF ships it: antifreeze. And BASF doesn't advertise the fact that a lot of the antifreeze sold in America was made by them.)

[amazona]

3. yes and I'll tell you why

Anything that will take the advertising dollar away from Maxim and Stuff magazine is A-OK with me!

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[karlrschneider]

7. Why not? There're thousands of ads for stuff to make dicks hard...

:eyes:

[IronLionZion]

9. beer or liquor?

because I'm really sure the companies had a gentleman's agreement to not show liquor ads on TV for a long time and someone just broke it in the past couple years so all bets are off. The whole point of liquor-brand malt beverages was to advertise the hard liquor brand.

I'm not sure who the first one was to break the agreement.

For the record, I don't mind the ads.

[Karmadillo]

36. It was a beer commercial. Nothing outrageous, but

I don't think it would oppress anyone if consumers were forced to make their beer choices based on what they saw in the store, not on what they see in the bizarro world of advertising.

[Mojambo]

10. I never used to think about it

But when I realize how many beer commercials my 3 year old nephew sees on a daily basis and I wonder what kind of effect it is having on him?

It's really bad because the beer commercials are often the loudest and most attention grabbing of all advertisements.

I realize that when he sees the cascading beer washing over the screen while a ear-catching rock riff plays, that it doesn't give him a craving to drink the beer, but after being exposed to this level of advertising for the next 10-12 years...

I think I have a problem with advertising in general.

[Zenlitened]

12. Did any of the ads reveal a woman's nipple?

If not, then no problem.

</sarcasm>

Just another example of bizarre priorities, isn't it? Sigh. :(

[American Tragedy]

14. Why not?

I don't understand why alcohol has been made into such a societal demon. I grew up drinking small amounts of wine, occasionally a sip of liquor, and like many I saw my dad drink virtually every day. To this day I drink very little, only in celebration, and I suspect that more television commercials would not impact that.

Like almost everything else that you consume, it is fine in moderation - it's been part of human civilization since ancient Mesopotamia. Certainly the government has no business interfering.

[wickerwoman]

21. Exactly... Puritanism is a big reason why Americans binge drink.

If you look at countries like France, Italy and Germany where the drinking age is low or non-existant, you see people who grew up drinking a little wine or beer and know how to handle it. It isn't taboo, so there's no sense of rebellion or appealling risk attached to drinking.

Even in Ireland the drinking age is 16 and the driving age is 18. The 16-18 year olds go nuts, learn about the consequences of heavy drinking, amass some puking anecdotes to tell their friends and THEN are given an opportunity to get behind the wheel of a car.

[Mojambo]

22. Because some people are much more susceptable

to alcoholism it is in society's best interest to monitor closely how alcohol is presented to the public (and young viewers in particular.)

That would be my take.

[wickerwoman]

24. A LOT more people are susceptable to obesity.

And the cost to society of obesity related illnesses is much higher.

Should we monitor how fast food and ice cream are presented to the public?

[Mojambo]

25. Monitor? Sure.

It would be very responsible.

It's called responsible advertising, it's a rarity these days. It's the same principle that should keep a cigarette company from advertising with a cartoon character.

[American Tragedy]

27. But why must the government intervene, in this case via the FCC?

As a progressive libertarian I will never understand why people so often feel that things that bother them personally, or could theoretically be harmful, must be fixed by the government.

Human beings frankly are susceptible to many vices and addictions. But in spite of the apocalyptic pronouncements of Drug Czars and special interest organizations, the overwhelming majority of people do fairly well. What about the freedom and accordingly the responsibility of individuals and legal guardians, and their communities? The government should indeed assist in specific problem cases, but censorship and social engineering are a waste of our finite tax dollars, and are an undue invasion of the private sector.

[Mojambo]

29. I'm not arguing that the government should intervene

just that we recognize that there are many people out there for whom alcohol is a very dangerous thing. It's in everyone's interest to take reasonable steps to help protect them. An alcoholic is no good to anyone.

Wisely, we regulate alcohol. I see no reason why that regulation shouldn't extend, in as minimal a way as possible, into the advertising realm.

[InvisibleBallots]

15. No

I like alcohol - don't get me wrong. Why should alcohol pushers be allowed to advertise on the public airwaves? I can't see any reason for it.

[AliciaKeyedUp]

19. What else should we ban?

Should they be able to advertise porn? How about controversial material? How about food? (Lots of activists blame food advertising for obesity.) In theory all products can be harmful.

[American Tragedy]

20. Why shouldn't they be, any more than anyone else?

[Pushed To The Left]

23. Yes. It's a legal product.

If it's a legal product, then it should be legal to advertise it. I abhor smoking, but I think that industry should have a right to advertise their products as well. They already have adult-oriented ads for things such as condoms and Viagra during these hours.

[imagine1989]

26. Yes and no...

First off, if it wasn't for organized crime, i would want to restart the Prohibition. In saying that, i dont want to turn on the golf channel and see an ad for whiskey and beer.

[newyawker99]

30. Hi imagine1989!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[otohara]

34. Welcome to DU

I like your screen name -

[Cleita]

28. I would rather see alcohol ads that all the unnecessary

pharmaceutical ads, which we have to pay for when we need prescription drugs. When I was a teenager ads for cigarettes and alcohol were played all day, yet most of us grew up all right.

[catmandu57]

31. I just wish they were more honest about their product

Like showing a beer blast in full swing when half of the keg, or cases are gone, when beer drinkers go deaf, when common sense flies out the window, when the fights, puking, infidelity, jealousy all that starts.
Like just about every party I've ever been to, it starts out great, but there's always someone who puts the dampers on, for every commercial showing the guy getting the beautiful girl because he drinks brand x, lets run a true commercial for what comes later.

[Swamp Rat]

32. HA! I was just about to post the same.

Yes, let's run a TRUE commercial. :beer: :+ :puke:

[SOS]

33. Truth in advertising

According to Dr. Nancy Snyderman of ABC News alcohol is a factor in:

70% of child abuse cases
52% of rapes
86% of murders
75% of domestic assault
40% of traffic fatalities

If hard liqour can be advertised, then cigarette advertising should be allowed as well.

[ernstbass]

37. Alcohol ads don't bother me but those drug ads do-

I'm sick of all those medication ads and they are very misleading!

[blindpig]

38. nitpicking

it's television in general. Rampant consumption of all things as encouraged(I think I need a stronger word) by tv will bring us down much more surely. Booze has had millenia to destroy us yet failed despite the whining of the fundies. TV will do it in a century or so.

Blow up the tv.

[Karmadillo]

39. I wasn't advocating we whine like "the fundies," but

I do think it might be wise to ban alcohol advertising when kids are likely to make up a significant portion of the audience. Adults would still be able to buy all the beer they want.

[blindpig]

41. you mistake my emphasis

forget I said that. My point was that the problem that you pointed out was part of a larger problem, that of the insidious effect of tv. It is the glue of mass stupidity. If we really wish to change society perhaps the first step might be to blow up the tv(figuratively speaking). Perhaps we could walk away from the mindsets it encourages, as the ancient Maya proles walked away from their violent oppressive city states.

[Karmadillo]

42. Nope

I didn't mistake your emphasis. I'd be more than happy to see us abandon television (at least 24/7 corporate advertising propaganda television). I just think that's not likely to happen in the immediate future. Banning alcohol ads from events with a significant child audience seems to me something that could be achieved sooner.

[Freddie Stubbs]

40. I would rather see beer ads than ones for boner pills, douche, or herpes

At least the beer ads are meant to be funny.