Advertising and the Alcohol Industry | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

The beverage alcohol industry includes companies that market beers and brews (malt liquors), wines and sparkling wines (such as champagne), and distilled spirits (e.g., whiskey, vodka, scotch, gin, rum, and flavored liquors). Businesses must obtain a special license to sell one or more of the above categories of products. For example, if a restaurant has only a beer and wine license, it cannot serve other types of alcoholic beverages.

In the United States, it is illegal to sell alcoholic beverages to minors, or those who are less than 21 years of age. Yet every day, thousands of minors buy beer and wine coolers with no questions askedby store clerks or owners. Even if a store refuses to sell to them, minors can often get around the law by finding an older friend to buy the alcohol for them. The illegal use of alcoholic beverages by teenagers creates a high level of concern on the part of health-care professionals, police, parents, and activist groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving ﾀ and the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

%See Organizations of Interest at the back of Volume 1 for address, telephone, and URL.

The high level of alcohol use by those under age 21 creates an advertising problem for the companies that market alcoholic beverages. How do you advertise to the 21 and over group and also appear not to target the under-21 group? Teenagers have a very strong desire to participate in activities they view as adult. This makes them vulnerable to anything they think would help them achieve that goal.

Critics accuse alcoholic-beverage companies of purposely making their advertising and promotional programs inviting to teenagers. The companies deny this, pointing with pride to public service messages such as "friends don't let friends drive drunk" or those that encourage drinkers to "know when to say when," "drink smart or don't start," "think when you drink," or "drink safely."

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) in the Department of the Treasury is responsible for overseeing the alcohol industry. Its rules discourage advertising claims that are obscene or misleading, as well as those that associate athletic ability with drinking. Alcoholic beverages sold in the United States must carry a warning on the container that states: "GOVERNMENT WARNING: (1) According to the Surgeon General, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects. (2) Consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems."

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also reviews advertising, especially instances of false or misleading ads. But, with few exceptions, neither the ATF nor the FTC has been aggressive in challenging ads that appeal to young drinkers or ads that seem to encourage heavy drinking.

The Food and Drug Administrationﾀ in the Department of Health and Human Services has no legal control over alcohol advertising, except for wines with less than 7 percent alcohol. Unlike drug companies, alcoholic beverage makers are not required to state the risks, consequences, or benefits of use on their labels or in advertising materials. Americans see ads that encourage people to drink, but the ads fail to provide information about the down side of drinking, especially excessive drinking.

%See Organizations of Interest at the back of Volume 1 for address, telephone, and URL.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines the verb "advertise" as "to call public attention to especially by emphasizing desirable qualities so as to arouse a desire to buy or patronize." The definition of the noun "advertising" includes the phrase "by paid announcements." Advertisers use television, radio, and print ads, billboards, signs and displays in stores where the product is sold, and, increasingly, sponsorship of special events such as music festivals, auto-, bicycle-, and boat racing, and other sports.

Advertising is used as a major tool in marketing. When a company first introduces a new product, the goals generally are:

• To inform potential purchasers that a particular product is available and suggest why they might like to try this new product.
• To persuade people that they should go out and buy the product.
• To let people know where the product can be purchased.
• To reassure people who buy the product that they have made a wise choice in doing so.

Where more than one company has products in a given category, the goals generally become:

• To increase market share by taking business away from a competitive product.
• To increase the size of the market by inducing more people to start using the product. This can be done by increasing the product's appeal in certain ways. An alcoholic beverage advertisement tries to persuade viewers that using the product in the ad will make them feel more confident, more outgoing, more popular, more appealing to the opposite sex, and, in the case of minors, more adult.
• To increase the size of the market by inducing people to increase their use of the product(s). This can be done by tying the product to occasions such as spring break or a football game.
• To keep reassuring heavy drinkers that they are in good company by drinking the particular brand of beer or liquor being advertised. Since the 10 percent of those who drink most heavily account for about 50 percent of all alcohol consumed in the United States, this is a major incentive to advertise.

Alcohol advertisements are generally successful at making alcohol use seem desirable and enjoyable. Exposure to, or awareness of, advertising contributes to some increase in drinking, according to research reports. But researchers do not agree on just how much advertising contributes to heavier drinking. The amount of money a beer company spends on advertising does not correlate, for instance, with the amount of beer consumed. Advertising for wine and liquor has a more significant correlation with consumption.

Critics often charge that beer industry advertising is targeted at minors. In response, companies point to the Beer Institute's Advertising and Marketing Code, a set of guidelines created voluntarily by the industry. The beer industry's goal may be to ensure appropriate advertising, or it may be to create a positive image that will deflect criticism. A copy of the entire code is available from the Beer Institute or the Internet. Here are a few of the guidelines:

• Beer advertising and marketing materials should portray beer in a responsible manner.
• Brewers are committed to the policy of responsible advertising and marketing directed to persons of legal purchase age.
• Beer advertising and marketing materials are intended for adults of legal purchase age who choose to drink.
• Beer advertising and marketing activities should not associate or portray beer drinking before or during activities in situations which require a high degree of alertness or coordination.
• Beer advertising and marketing materials should not refer to any intoxicating effect that the product may produce.

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States has a Code of Good Practice for Distilled Spirits Advertising and Marketing that is similar to that of the Beer Institute and Anheuser-Busch has a College Marketing Guide. One of its guidelines states that "Anheuser-Busch will limit its event sponsorship and promotion on campus to licensed retail establishments and those activities open to the general public, where most of the audience is reasonably expected to be above the legal purchase age."

Limitations of Voluntary Beer Industry Advertising Codes. The beer industry's voluntary advertising codes are written to prevent restrictions on advertising. In addition, voluntary codes are not legally enforceable. Most of the statements give the industry a lot of leeway in ads. For example, the Anheuser-Busch code specifies that advertising is intended to be used "where most of the audience is reasonably expected to be above the legal purchase age." The word "most" is the key: even if almost half the audience is below the legal purchase age, the code permits such advertising.

Advertising and the Tobacco Industry; Costs of Substance Abuse and Dependence, Economic; Tobacco: Industry.

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