Alcohol and Its Consumption. On Television, Billboards,

¶ … alcohol and its consumption. On television, billboards, and in magazines, images of beautiful and exotic people enjoying alcoholic beverages mix with funny quips and skits that relate to alcohol. But are these images irresponsible? Do they promote alcohol consumption by minors and even alcohol abuse? I will prove that they do encourage minors to drink illegally by promoting alcohol in a manner than is particularly attractive to teens -- peer pressure.

In the interest of being brief, I will use only two specific commercial types: that of the beautiful woman who is attracted to a male drinking a certain beverage and the commercial that appeals to both sexes that is more of an entertaining advertisement for how much fun can be had when drinking. The first appeals directly to males, leading them to believe that somehow beautiful women are drawn to a certain type of drink. Teenage males are particularly susceptible to this type of message, as their hormones are at a peak level and their judgement had not fully developed from real-world experience. The second is more of a catch-all that is also particularly attractive to females; it symbolizes fun and camaraderie and associates these actions with alcohol consumption.

Some studies have noted that minors are subjected to a significantly large number of alcohol ads, perhaps even more than their drinking age counterparts. "Americans between the ages of 12 and 20 saw 45% more beer ads, 27% more hard liquor ads and 54% more ads for "malternatives" such Smirnoff Ice and Bacardi Silver, than adults over the age of 21." (Wooley 2002) The simple fact that teenagers are more susceptible to peer pressure and societal pressures than their adult counterparts leads to the conclusion that if teens are subjected to more messages that "alcohol is cool," they will be more likely to seek it out.

Although bans on alcohol advertising have been ruled unconstitutional (Problems and Solutions, online), many cities have taken steps to prevent the general public, specifically minors, from viewing these ads. San Diego, Baltimore, and Oakland have all banned alcohol-related billboards (Scenic America, online). These cities believe that the fewer images of alcohol consumption are viewed by the underage public, the less that minors will be tempted to drink.

All of these events go back to one issue: teens who see alcohol consumed often are tempted more strongly to drink themselves. Peer pressure is a very strong factor in adolescence, and drinking is no different than a hairstyle or brand of jeans when determining what is "cool." The less youth are exposed to alcohol consumption, the less likely they are to believe the hype that it is socially okay to break the law, that it will make them more attractive to the opposite sex, or enable them to have more fun with their friends.

Critics of limiting alcohol advertising cite free speech rights of the alcohol companies to advertise their product in the free market without restrictions. These critics, however, ignore the fact that our society regulates plenty of speech: to use a classic example, you cannot shout "Fire!" In a crowded theater. And although the danger from causing a panic in a crowd is more immediate than the danger of introducing youths to alcohol, it is definitely a dangerous situation and as such, it is able to be regulated by the government. We put limits on free speech all of the time -- a billboard with pornographic images would be illegal, or a television ad for a racy movie could not be shown during Saturday morning cartoons, to name two examples.