See also: Advertising and Alcohol

Address: http://camy.org/
See also: Factsheets http://camy.org/factsheets/

The Toll of Underaged Drinking
Address: http://camy.org/factsheets/index.php?FactsheetID=7

Women, Girls and Alcohol
http://camy.org/factsheets/index.php?FactsheetID=8

Underage drinking 2005: girls bingeing more
http://camy.org/press/release.php?ReleaseID=34

Drowned Out: Alcohol Industry 'Responsibility' Advertising on Television, 2001-2005 There is growing concern among policy makers and the general public about the impact of messages from popular and commercial cultures on youth perceptions, attitudes and health behaviors.

The U.S. Congress recently asked the Department of Health and Human Services to monitor and report on rates of youth exposure to advertising and other media messages that encourage and discourage alcohol use. Alcohol companies place television advertisements in both of these categories. Alcohol product advertising on television -- and per capita youth exposure to that advertising -- experienced historic increases between 2001 and 2005. However, youth exposure to alcohol industry-sponsored "responsibility" advertisements remained at consistently low levels compared to their exposure to alcohol product commercials.

This new report from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at Georgetown University analyzes the alcohol industry's 'responsibility' advertising from 2001-2005. To read the executive summary use this link: http://camy.org/research/responsibility2007/

"Youth hear more radio ads for booze", Alcoholism.About.com, April 21, 2003. "Youth under 21 top the charts when it comes to exposure to alcohol advertising," said the CAMY (Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth Study) executive director Jim O'Hara.

The Center's study found that the alcohol industry routinely overexposed youth to its radio advertising by placing product ads when and where youth were more likely to hear them. Youth heard more radio ads for beer, "malternatives" and distilled spirits. Underage youth, ages 12-20, heard 8 percent more beer and ale advertising and 12 percent more malternative advertising than adults 21 and older. The exposure was even greater for the distilled spirits category, where youth heard 14% more advertising.

Alcohol ads were placed on stations with "youth" formats. Seventy-three percent of the alcohol radio advertising in terms of gross ratings points was on four formats - Rhythmic Contemporary Hit, Pop Contemporary Hit, Urban Contemporary and Alternative - that routinely have a disproportionately large listening audience of 12- to 20- year-olds.

"What our study shows is that if you are under 21 you are a target for the alcohol industry's radio ads," O'Hara added. "In fact, 20 of the 160 brands delivered more radio advertising to underage youth than to young adults ages 21-34, an age group the alcohol industry routinely describes as its target audience."
Address: http://camy.org/research/radio0303/

Slater, Michael D.; Rouner, Donn; Murphy, Kevin; et. al.; "Male adolescent's reaction to TV beer advertisements: the effects of sports content and programming content,"; JOURNAL OF STUDIES ON ALCOHOL (1996), 57 (4): 425-33. "N+157 white male high school students. The results support public and official concerns that sports contain in beer aids increase the ads appeal to underage youth. They do no support hypothesized concerns that sports programing might prime adolescents to be more receptive to beer ads."

"Underage drinking in the United States: a status report, 2004", (February, 2005), The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth.
7,000 young people under 16 have their first drink every day (Sept. 2004, SAMHSA)

"Youth exposure to TV alcohol ads rising." "More spending on television, especially on cable, translates into kids seeing more and more alcohol ads," said David Jernigan, executive director of CAMY.

The report, STILL GROWING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS: YOUTH EXPOSURE TO ALCOHOL ADS ON TV 2001-2005, found that industry self-regulation standards for TV ads -- including a pledge not to advertise on programs with an underage audience of more than 30 percent -- have provided insufficient protection for young viewers, although fewer ads are now being placed on shows with large youth audiences.

CAMY said that spending on alcohol aids rose 34 percent between 2001 and 2005, and the number of ads televised increased 34 percent. The alcohol industry is now spending more than $1 billion annually on TV ads, the report said.

According to MTF, 55.8% of high school seniors reported using "alcopops" in 2004, a level that is virtually unchanged from 2003. Among current drinkers, 78.5% of eighth-graders, 71.3% of 10th-graders and 64.8% of 12-graders reported drinking "alcopops" in the past month.

In November 2004, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) concluded that alcohol abuse and dependence are "developmental disorders".

An analysis published in the November 15, 2004 issue of BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY stated that the onset of alcohol dependence peaks by 18 years of age.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released in September, 2004 a new annual estimate on the number of underage deaths due to excessive alcohol use: 4,

Brain researchers using brain scanning technology, have identified how they believe alcohol use may cause loss of memory and other skills in adolescents.

updated 07/22/10