Youth exposure to alcohol ads in mags declines by 48pc: Study

WASHINGTON - A new study has revealed that youth exposure to alcohol advertising in magazines declined by 48 percent between 2001 and 2008.

The study was conducted by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Although 325 alcohol brands advertised in magazines 2008, just 16 brands accounted for half of the advertising placed in publications more likely to be seen per capita by youth than by adults.

The report has shown that alcohol companies have largely met the industry’s voluntary standard of not placing ads in magazines with 30 percent or more youth readership.

That standard was adopted in 2003.

However, this standard has had little effect on the percentage of youth exposure coming from advertising placed in youth-oriented publications.

As of 2008, 78 percent of youth exposure to this advertising occurred in magazines that youth ages 12 to 20 were more likely to read than adults age 21 and above.

“It continues to make no sense to advertise more heavily to those who cannot purchase alcohol than to those who can,” said CAMY Director David H. Jernigan.

“Yet a relatively small number of brands are still doing this, despite industry efforts to tighten the standard in order to reduce youth exposure.”

Researchers at CAMY and Virtual Media Resources analyzed 29,026 alcohol-product advertisements in national magazines to count and measure exposure to alcohol advertisements in magazines.

Other key findings of the report include: The number of ads placed by distilled spirits companies, the largest alcohol advertisers in magazines, fell by 34 percent from 2001 to 2008, while ads placed by brewers increased by 158 percent.

However, the 30 percent standard affected placements in only nine of the 160 magazines in which alcohol companies placed their advertising between 2001 and 2008.

“Beer advertisers appear to be filling the gap left by distillers in youth-oriented magazines.

“If the entire industry is serious about underage drinking, it should adopt stricter standards to protect against youth exposure to its advertising,” said Jernigan. (ANI)