Alcohol advertising self-regulation not working, as ads target younger drinkers
9 June 2009
Addiction scientists are calling for tighter regulation of alcohol advertising, as new research shows that self-regulation by the alcohol industry does not protect impressionable children and youth from exposure.
The new research, conducted in
The researchers also found that all the most exposed alcohol ads included in the study contained at least one element known to appeal to children and adolescents, such as animated characters, animals, simple humorous storylines and pop music, despite the Australian alcohol industry’s code of conduct specifically stating that alcohol advertising must not have strong or evident appeal to children or adolescents.
Previous studies have concluded that the more alcohol advertising young people are exposed to, the more likely they are to drink, and in the US, another country where alcohol advertising is subject to self-regulation by the industry, more than 4,600 young people under the legal drinking age of 21 die because of alcohol use each year.
Dr. David Jernigan, an alcohol policy and public health expert, calls for standards for alcohol advertisers to be strengthened in his commentary on the research, published this week in Addiction journal. . “Clearly self-regulation is not working to protect young people from exposure to alcohol advertising. Ongoing monitoring and greater restriction on when these ads can air are needed to safeguard our youth,” said Dr. Jernigan.
In response to the failure of the self-regulation system in Australia, the authors propose various measures to reduce underage exposure, including: banning alcohol advertising during live sports programming; further restricting the times at which alcohol adverts can be broadcast; and banning animals and animal characters from alcohol advertising, with carefully controlled exceptions where an animal has traditionally been part of the brand’s logo. “The marketing and communications industries are fully aware of execution elements that are attractive to children and young teens – that’s part of their job. It should not be part of their job to use that knowledge, or allow it to be used, in alcohol advertising that children and teens are exposed to” said co-author Professor Donovan.
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For editors:
Fielder L., Donovan R. J., Ouschan R. Exposure of children and adolescents to alcohol advertising on Australian metropolitan free-to-air television. Addiction 2009; 104: 1157-1165
· This study investigated the exposure of underage youth to alcohol television advertising on metropolitan free-to-air television in the five mainland capital city markets of
· Between them, these five metropolitan markets account for 60% of the Australian population. Free-to-air television comprises three commercial networks and two government-funded national networks. Subscription television was not included in this study due to low audience penetration (approximately 24%) and because many cable channels do not carry advertising.
· Exposure levels (target audience rating points; TARPs) were obtained for all alcohol advertisements screened from November 2005 to October 2006 in each capital city market for: children 0–12 years; underage teens 13–17 years; young adults 18–24 years; and mature adults 25+ years. TARPs data were obtained for a total of 2162 individual alcohol advertisements promoting 79 different brands.
· The 30 most exposed advertisements across age groups were then content-analysed for elements appealing to children and underage youth.
Professor Donovan is available for comment:
Rob Donovan PhD
Professor of Behavioural Research, Faculty of Health Sciences
Professor of Social Marketing,
Telephone +61 8 9266 4598
Email r.donovan@curtin.edu.au
Jernigan D. H. Alcohol advertising regulation: where to from here? Addiction 2009; 104: 1166-1167
To speak to Dr Jernigan please contact: Molly Jarvis, Editorial Manager: Marketing & Liaison, Addiction. Email molly@addictionjournal.org, tel +44 (0)20 7848 0014.
For a full text copy of either article please contact: Molly Jarvis, Editorial Manager: Marketing & Liaison,
Addiction. Email molly@addictionjournal.org, tel +44 (0)20 7848 0014.
Addiction (www.addictionjournal.org) is a monthly international scientific journal, read in over sixty countries and publishing more than 2000 pages every year. Owned by the Society for the Study of Addiction, it has been in continuous publication since 1884. Addiction publishes peer-reviewed research reports on alcohol, illicit drugs and tobacco, bringing together research conducted within many different disciplines, as well as editorials and other debate pieces.
