| A few years ago, a survey asked parents to imagine a New Year's
Eve party "where you suspected alcohol was going to be served" but where
"everyone would be required to give their keys to the host" and no one would
be allowed to drive home afterward. A quarter of parents with teenage kids
said they definitely or probably would let them attend the party.
The group that commissioned the survey, a Washington, D.C.,
nanny outfit called Drug Strategies, was horrified by this laxity. In its
view, the only acceptable strategy for protecting teenagers from the hazards
of drinking is to insist that they never drink.
But if you decide to keep your kids home on New Year's Eve,
perhaps you should also keep them away from the TV. Another alcohol-related
peril lurks for innocent youths idly flipping channels while waiting for the
ball to drop over Times Square: commercials for Foster's Beer and Mike's
Hard Lemonade.
A recent report from Georgetown University's Center on Alcohol
Marketing and Youth (CAMY) reveals that "one quarter of alcohol advertising
on television in 2001 was more likely to be seen by youth than adults." Not
only that, but "youth saw more commercials for beer than for juice, gum,
chips, sneakers or jeans."
CAMY charges manufacturers of alcoholic beverages with
recklessly exposing "underage youths" (i.e., 12-to-20-year-olds) to ads that
make drinking look fun. It insinuates that the industry does so
deliberately.
"In calendar year 2001," CAMY reports, "the alcohol industry . .
. placed 1,441 ads on 13 of the 15 prime time network programs with the
largest teen audiences." Those shows included "Survivor," "Friends," "E.R.,"
"CSI," "That '70s Show," and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" -- all of which are
popular with adults as well as minors.
The shows on the list with narrower appeal are also the ones
that attracted the fewest alcohol ads. "Seventh Heaven," for example, had
five, while "Gilmore Girls" had six, compared to 429 for "Friends" and 382
for "That '70s Show."
CAMY even complains about alcoholic beverage commercials on
"Saturday Night Live" and "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," which highlights
the basic problem with its analysis: Advertisers cannot reach large numbers
of adult viewers, especially the young adults prized by beer and
"malternative" producers, without also reaching large numbers of viewers who
are not old enough to legally purchase their products. How many TV shows
appeal to 21-year-olds but not to 20-year-olds?
Combine the impossibility of making such fine distinctions with
the fact that 12-to-20-year-olds watch a lot of TV, and it's not surprising
that they see a lot of alcohol ads: 245 on average in 2001, according to
CAMY. But so what?
CAMY claims "research clearly indicates that, in addition to
parents and peers, alcohol advertising and marketing have a significant
impact on youth decisions to drink." Yet it's obvious from the evidence CAMY
offers that the research does not clearly indicate anything of the kind.
CAMY cites a couple of studies that found kids who recalled and
liked alcohol ads more were more apt to drink or say they would. Such
research simply shows that a positive attitude toward drinking goes along
with an affection for beer commercials. It does not show that the
commercials cause the attitude.
The rest of CAMY's evidence is even lamer: Kids are familiar
with the Budweiser frogs. In surveys people express the opinion that ads
make drinking more appealing. The National Association of Broadcasters once
said that "radio and television audiences, particularly kids," like "clever
jingles, flashy lights, fast talking, and quick pacing."
You have to assume CAMY is making the strongest case it can. It
doesn't help that underage drinking has been declining in recent years; it's
hard to whip up hysteria about a shrinking problem.
Even if the evidence that ads encourage underage drinking were
stronger, brewers, vintners, and distillers still would have a First
Amendment right to communicate with their customers. In a free society, the
appropriate response to speech you don't like is more speech, not the
censorship CAMY seems to favor.
Parents who worry that their children are getting a one-sided
picture of drinking should make sure to explain its perils. And rather than
shielding them from TV, they could have them watch something instructive,
such as the drunken idiots in Times Square on New Year's Eve.
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