Alcohol Advertising Has the Most Negative Effects on Three Demographics
In a world where we have instant access to most of the knowledge of the planet and the majority of its products, our pockets vibrate from notifications, alerts and reminders that we should stay connected online. We consume information about alcohol, the latest fads and trends, and new flavours in a similar way. It is the constantly changing societal culture that we all observe, absorb, and, in some cases, imbibe. Alcohol marketing is more targeted at certain demographics: women, minors, and people of colour.
Branded Advertising Has A Strong Pull on Young People
Statistics show that 62% of individuals will have consumed alcohol by the time they reach their senior year in high school. Of course, many factors go into calculating the causes of such a number, but one of them is how much time teens spend online, from YouTube to Netflix. Many studies have shown that there is a correlation between the type of content teens and kids consume and their alcohol consumption. Currently, there are no exclusive or conclusive statistics, but organizations are trying to change this.
The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth has several projects in progress that are aimed at protecting young people against underage drinking and keeping the alcohol industry responsible. CAMY, in line with World Health Organization guidelines, aims to increase awareness about three pillars of alcohol consumption: availability, pricing and marketing. Alcohol Brand Research Among Young Drinkers (ABRAND), a project funded by the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, aims to establish the relationship between specific, branded advertisements of alcohol companies and underage consumption. They hypothesize that increasing awareness of alcohol advertising and tobacco companies’ ads could lead to increased regulation.
College students at Risk
The ease of social media and being able to scroll through someone else’s highlights on the phone gives us unrealistic expectations about the lives of others. According to a survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 53% of college students aged 18-22 have consumed alcohol in the last month. Around 30% of them binge drink (defined as five or more drinks in two hours for men and four or more for females). Students feel compelled by social media to share their drinking nights and days on various platforms like Snapchat and Instagram. It’s a vicious cycle, though. Research has shown that viewing friends’ drinking profiles and postings can lead to students drinking more and posting it.
This false perception of reality leads young people to take risks and engage in dangerous behaviours. This creates a disconnect in how much students believe that other students drink versus how they actually drink.
Women and the danger of pointed alcohol marketing
In the past decade, we have seen a significant change in how we talk about women, pay them, and even view them. The same is true for the ways in which alcohol companies attempt to pointedly advertise to women, in many ways alluding to the old “if only you had these various tangible/consumable items, you, too, could be as happy/beautiful/successful as these women” trope. Alcohol marketing is now focusing on the perceptions of women in various aspects of their lives, such as empowerment and relaxation. Carol Emslie, professor of substance abuse and misuse at Glasgow Caledonian University, has discovered that alcohol advertising capitalizes on how women maintain their identity through various stages in life. She is also aware of the dangers such marketing tactics pose. “We need to remember that alcohol advertising normalizes consumption,” she says. Emslie claims that young people, our daughters, consume the same media as adults and are exposed to the same alcohol messages.
It’s more worrying that we’re still navigating through the COVID-19 epidemic. These seemingly innocent colloquialisms can be anything but, as they encourage the use of self-medication with alcohol. This is especially true for moms who deal with stress and anxiety. In 2019, 4% of women aged 18-25 years had alcohol use disorders (AUD).
Alcohol Marketing Has a Disproportional Impact on Communities of Color
Statistics show that there are significant differences in the healthcare industry when it comes to communities of colour. The same goes for alcohol consumption and marketing. Addiction and treatment resources can be difficult to use and access for a group of people who are already underserved. One study found that Black youth are exposed to a daily average of 4.1 ads for alcohol, while Hispanic youth see an average of 3.4. This is nearly twice as many ads as the White youth population, which only receives 2 per day. One study found that addiction affects people of colour more than other groups due to a lack of access to treatment centres and a higher rate of dropouts.
Organizations like the American Academy of Family Physicians and the group/training program Recognizing and eliminating disparities in addiction through culturally informed healthcare (REACH) are able to understand the different crises that affect marginalized and underrepresented groups. This latter organization has received a grant from SAMHSA and offers training for various positions in the medical field. It is becoming increasingly important to support (and eventually change policy) communities in order to achieve equity, given the large number of musicians and celebrities who have signed with alcohol companies.
