By: Hiba Fahim Robert Cabral Hang Nguyen Kyla Kelley Alcohol By: Hiba Fahim Robert Cabral Hang Nguyen Kyla Kelley

Alcohol & Advertising The alcohol advertising industry is one of the largest in America. With thousands of new legal drinkers every year, companies are constantly competing with each other for originality and consumer loyalty. Alcohol companies offer a complex variety of advertisements aimed at reaching various groups of men, women, and college students. With such a variety of alcohol products and wide range of consumers, advertisers are constantly coming up with new cutting-edge marketing campaigns, making alcohol advertising a multi-billion dollar business.

This presentation will provide: An overview of the industry Examples of various ads and explanations of how they accomplish reaching their targets A discussion of how the industry is regulated

Goals of Alcohol Advertising: • In 2006 the alcohol industry spent $5.7 billion dollars on advertising, steadily increasing from a total of $5.37 billion on advertising and promotion in 2003 • Scientific research has demonstrated that effective alcohol campaigns can increase both a producer’s market share and also brand loyalty. • Advertising to various groups: Men, Women, college students and underage drinkers

Regulations • Alcohol and tobacco advertising are one of the most highly-regulated forms of marketing. • The concern is where alcohol advertising is placed. Currently the standard is that alcohol advertisements can only be placed in media where 70% of the audience is over the legal drinking age. • However, despite regulations advertisers find many ways to bypass regulations and reach all ages through billboards, radio advertisements, and magazine advertisements

Deconstruction of Alcohol Advertisements What are the different groups that alcohol companies market to and specific examples:

Description: When many think of drinking beer, they fear the “beer belly” outcome. To counter the result of excessive beer drinking Michelob introduces this beer that have fewer carbs and calories. This is an ad for Michelob Ultra beer. The ad features a muscular good-looking man doing sit-ups. With the phrase “Lose the carbs. Not the taste” we can predict that this beer will be more appealing to men who wants to stay in shape and stay active. Subtext: With less carbs, you can drink with this beer and not get a beer belly. Need for affiliation: Many men can relate to the man in the ad. They want to stay in shape and work out as often as they can, but at the same time they also want to have fun and drink beer with their buddies. With this beer, they can drink and watch their carbs. Need to achieve: Those who drink beer excessively will want to switch to this beer to achieve a better looking body like the one in the ad.

Description: The commercial begins with a close up of a bartender’s hand smashing some spearmint in a glass with loud music in the background. The scene extended out to be a club with many young men and women dancing to the music they called the “mojito”. Everyone is having a great time dancing to the beat until the bartender stop smashing the spearmint, but after couple seconds, he continued again. The commercial ends with the phrase “Tonight, do the mojito, with the refreshing cool taste of Bacardi Mojito” Subtext: Dance the mojito, drink the mojito. Need for sex: The commercial contains many young men and women dancing very close to one another. The sexy clothes and dance movements infiltrate sex. Need for affiliation: Affiliate with the dancers, if you drink the Bacardi mojito, you’ll do the mojito, and dance with many beautiful people.

Cuervo ad: 1. This ad drives at our need for affiliation. 2 Cuervo ad: 1. This ad drives at our need for affiliation. 2. "According to Henry Murray, the need for affiliation consists of 24 desires" which includes "to please and win affection from another“. 3. The slogan "Pursue Your Daydreams" suggests that drinking cuervo will satisfy the need to love and be loved. Southern Comfort ad: 1. This ad targets our need to escape. 2. It uses humor to suggest that "at least we can count on our liquor“. 3. This ad also offers a quick fix/escape to a sometimes difficult part of life.

Seagram's: 1. Need for sex. 2. "Welcome into the fold" is a unambiguous message for sex. 3. The picture shows a bottle moving towards a "fold" of glasses. Alize- Red Passion: 1. The need for attention. 2. To be "deliciously alluring" to men, women should drink this. 3. The red/pink suggests passion/love.

Problems with Alcohol Consumption: • In the United States, more underage youths drink alcohol then smoke tobacco or use illicit drugs. • The alcohol industry spent more than $52 million to advertise its products during televised college sports in a recent year. • College Presidents agree that drinking is a major student health problem. • Alcohol advertisers can reach mass amounts of college students by advertising at sporting events, and TV stations generally known for having young adult viewers such as MTV and VH1. • Coupled with that, many under-age drinkers also watch these channels. Advertisers can therefore bypass regulations and have full access to marketing to underage drinkers.

Social consequences of alcohol consumption: Excessive alcohol consumption leads to many adverse health and social consequences and results in approximately 4,500 deaths among underage youth each year.

Alcohol Related Facts: • Alcohol use is associated with many public health problems including: traffic crashes, homicides, suicides, rapes and other assaults, drownings, and teenage pregnancies. A survey of over 6000 teenagers revealed the following: • Teenagers usually get their alcohol from persons 21 or older. The second most common source for high school students is someone else under age 21, and the second most common source for 18- to 20-year-olds is buying it from a store, bar or restaurant (despite the fact that such sales are against the law). • In the 12th grade, boys were more likely than girls to buy alcohol from a store, bar or restaurant. • The higher a teenager's weekly income, the more likely he/she will buy alcohol from a store, bar or restaurant.

…and more • A 2000 study of children ages 9-11 found that children were more familiar with Budweiser’s television frogs then Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger , the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, or Smokey the Bear • It is easy to get alcohol at a party and from siblings or others 21 or older. Focus groups with teenagers revealed: • At large high school parties, beer is often available from kegs at low or no-cost (2). • Convenience stores are the easiest places to buy alcohol (2). • Male store clerks and those who are younger are more likely to sell alcohol to teenagers (2). • It seems less risky to ask an older adult to purchase alcohol than to attempt to buy alcohol directly (3). • Most believed they would not face serious legal consequences for drinking (3).

Conclusion The alcohol advertising industry holds an extremely powerful influence over American society. This presentation has demonstrated how alcohol advertisers permeate every level of our culture. From adult men and women of various ages, to students, underage drinkers, and even children, everyone is familiar with various types of alcohol and the campaigns that are associated with them. Despite attempts to regulate advertising, the companies dominate over regulations and truly advertise at all levels. It seems the most powerful tool we Americans can use to control alcohol advertising is to simply gain awareness of the intentions of the advertisers, and not buy into everything they sell to us.

Sources 1. Alcohol Advertising Restrictions. University of Minnesota: Alcohol Epidemiology Program http://www.epi.umn.edu/alcohol/policy/adrstrct.html 2. MSNBC: Alcohol Ads to college students http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17525299/ 3. Study done by Geargetown University, Alcohol Advertising and Youth http://camy.org/factsheets/index.php?FactsheetID=1 4. “Children, Adolescents, and Advertising” prepared by the AAP’s Committee on Communications, published in the December 2006 issue of the journal Pediatrics. 5. Wikipedia, Alcohol Advertising http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_advertising 6. Youth Exposure to Alcohol ads on Radio CDC.gov http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5534a3.html