The word advertise depicts the lens in which we look at this policy. For advertisement we define it as, to describe and draw attention to a product, in a public channel to promote sales, for either organization, industry or government. The advertisement of alcohol markets the brand in which the corporation is trying to sell, and increases their profit. It’s a consumer approach with little to no consideration of the health and well being of the population in which it’s marketed too. These are big money making corporations that seem to make the rules in what can be advertised even with the policies made by government.
Alcohol beverage companies tend to advertise “lifestyle” advertisements to youth. These types of advertisements promote the positives of this product, and depict a youthful, healthy, fun, and attractive population drinking alcohol. It was found in the U.S. that youth ages 12-20 saw more television advertising for beer in 2001 than for fruit juices and fruit-flavored drinks; gum; skin care products; cookies and crackers; chips, nuts, popcorn and pretzels; sneakers; non-carbonated soft drinks; or sportswear jeans. (Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth Television: Alcohol's Vast Adland.) Even though these are American findings and Canada represents a much smaller market I find these statistics alarming, as Canada does not fall to far behind the U.S.’s footsteps.
In another report from the United Sates they found that from 2001 to 2007, there was an increase from 216 to 301, alcohol advertisements seen in a year by the average television-watching 12-to-20-year-old . In 2007, approximately one out of every five alcohol advertisements was placed on programming that youth ages 12 to 20 were more likely per capita to see than adults of the legal drinking age (Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth: Youth Exposure to Alcohol Advertising on Television, 2001 to 2007, 2008)
These industries are fueled by profit and spend big bucks to advertise their alcoholic product. It was estimated that in 2002 Canadian brewers and distillers spent more then $160 million to promote their beverages. There needs to be a shift in advertising to youth proposed by the government to increase in alcohol focused “responsibility” messages that market risks of drinking and driving, safety or underage drinking risks instead of alcohol product advertisements.
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I know you're not necessarily looking at this internationally, but you have to check out this video on youtube! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iCLflwNgt8
Wow, that's interesting. I read the comments under the video and it seemed like no one really knew if there was actually alcohol in the drink. However, I checked international drinking ages and its 20 in Japan. But it still shows that drinking alcohol is considered a fun and desired activity in countries outside of Canada. It also shows that children are exposed to ideas about alcohol at a very young age which provides a lot of time for individuals to form values and ideas about drinking before they are even of age. I have a feeling this type of commercial would never air in Canada!
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