Three problems facing alcohol advertising Essays - Drinking Culture

Three problems facing alcohol advertising Essays - Drinking Culture Three problems facing alcohol advertising Three problems facing alcohol advertising Name of Author Name of Institution THREE PROBLEMS ARISING FROM ALCOHOL ADVERTISING Introduction Should there be a controversial topic, this is among the most controversial debates. The issue of whether alcohol advertising is beneficial or hazardous is far from over as more scholars and analysts dive into the issue. However, this essay will mainly focus on some of problems of alcohol advertising. Alcohol advertisements have become one of the most popular advertisements on the media. The essay will attempt to discuss three cons arising from advertising alcohol relative to the young generation, alcohol companies and current lifestyles. Body One of the reasons why advertising alcohol is not advisable is the fact that it leads to a false illusion of an illustrious lifestyle. Alcohol is mainly consumed by the younger generation. With alcohol advertisements being more than the public service advertisements, it leads to more eagerness within the youth to consume alcohol. The recent TV-generation is easily swayed by what they actually view on the media. However, there have been representatives within the alcohol industry who maintain that alcohol advertising on the media does not hugely influence the consumption among the younger generation. Their rationale behind their statement is that there are some parents who live extravagant lifestyles hence introduce alcohol to their children. Alcohol advertising generally affects market shares as opposed to beer sales (Galanter, 2006). Surveys conducted among alcohol entities seem to conquer with the statement. Seemingly so, they also agree that affecting marketing shares leads to margin losses as opposed to beer sales which lead to profits. Companies dealing with alcohol and beverage sales seem to be against alcohol advertisements. Apparently, their marketing teams use the aspect of econometric analysis to fully analyze the impact of alcohol advertisement (Institute of Medicine, 2012). The results showed that alcohol advertising ultimately benefits large scale than small scale producers. Moreover, since particular brands of alcohol are regularly advertised, the demand of that particulate product is high-end as compared to other occasionally advertised products. Significant studies conducted among modern civilizations seem to consume more wine, more whisky as opposed to cigarette smoking. Notably so, as to whether this is a positive outcome is still under debate. For instance, citizens in states like California agreed to have been drinking more and smoke occasionally (Institute of Medicine, 2012). As such, it seems that alcohol advertisements seem to provide an alternative way of causing more health problems. However, health experts do not support alcohol much less than cigarette smoking but rather, advice against excessive alcohol consumption as it causes health problems. Conclusion The above essay only highlighted few of the problems that alcohol advertising causes at a local and international level. As noted, there are pros and cons to alcohol advertising. As seen in the essay, alcohol consumption should be supervised especially when dealing with the young generation. There have been cases where underage drinking has been blamed on alcohol companies. However, it is the responsibility of parents, family and the community at large to ensure that underage drinking is controlled and supervised. On the issue of alcohol and cigarettes, it is the responsibility of an adult to preserve his/her own health. References Galanter, Marc. (2006), American Medical Society on Alcoholism, National Council on Alcoholism Research Society on Alcoholism (U.S.), Phoenix: Springer. Institute of Medicine (US): 2012, Legislative approaches to prevention of alcohol related problems: an inter-American workshop: proceedings, Institute of Medicine: California: National Academies.