Alcohol Ads Aplenty in Teen-Read Magazines

Miller beer ad from Sports llustrated

Self-regulation isn’t working when it comes to alcohol industry advertising aimed at youth, according to a new study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The May, 2003 report concludes, “magazine advertising by the beer and liquor industries is associated with adolescent readership.”

The study’s authors looked for beer, wine and liquor ads in widely read magazines, including those most popular with teens. They found the ads appeared most often in magazines with the highest number of young readers (12-19 years old), including People, TV Guide, Rolling Stone and Sports Illustrated. The number of beer and distilled liquor ads went up by 60 percent for every one million increase in teen readership.

Using more media outlets to reach a larger segment of the market, producers of beer, wine and spirits producers increased spending by 17% from 1999 to 2001 (to $1.42 billion) according to market reports on those industries. Magazine ad expenditures accounted for nearly one third of that total, second only to television.

Currently, the federal government does not prevent alcohol producers from advertising to adolescents, but relies on industry self-regulation. Instead, the Beer Institute, Distilled Spirits Council, and Wine Institute create their own “pledge codes”—promises by the alcohol industry to advertise and market only to adults and not adolescents.

Visit www.jama.ama-assn.org for the JAMA study; the first of its kind to use placement frequency to statistically demonstrate the link between alcohol advertising and adolescent readership.

For more information on the impact of alcohol advertising on adolescents visit the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, www.camy.org.