A government agency is continuing to pressure the alcohol industry to market to legal-age drinkers, though a report released last month recognized that the industry made improvements since a 1999 report criticized its marketing techniques.
The issue is important to college administrators, as studies continue to show high rates of drinking on campuses across the country, despite some recent improvements.
The report issued to Congress Sept. 9 by the Federal Trade Commission said the alcohol industry has made an effort to strictly adhere to the Beer Institute Marketing and Advertising Code, a set of guidelines created by the brewing industry’s trade association.
The report to Congress examined whether the alcohol industry has become more aware of who exactly they market to, after a 1999 FTC report criticized the alcohol industry for not strictly marketing to audiences 21 years of age or older.
‘The Beer Institute Advertising and Marketing Code is a central component of our industry’s commitment to social responsibility,’ Beer Institute President Jeff Becker said in a press release.
‘Our members are careful about compliance with the code, not only to accommodate regulatory agencies, but to make sure that there is no misperception about the focus of our members’ advertising, which is to adults of legal drinking age,’ Becker said in the release.
The Code urges alcohol advertisers to use only models and actors who are at least 25 years old, not to use any entertainment figure or group that is intended to appeal primarily to underage people and not to use any symbols, cartoon characters or music that is intended to appeal to young people. Another guideline restricts the depiction of Santa Claus in advertisements.
According to a UCLA Higher Education Research Institute study released in 2002, 46.5 percent of college freshmen drink beer frequently or occasionally, 18 percent less than students reported in 1990.
College of General Studies sophomore Sabari Veeravalli said the study’s findings appear to be representative, and beer advertisements are partially to blame.
‘Every place you go to on a weekend has alcohol,’ Veeravalli said. ‘You can’t avoid it. It’s just what’s done, and ads make drinks look so glamorous and fun.’
The FTC report said alcohol advertising may have a ‘spillover’ effect on teens, because themes that appeal to younger, legal consumers also appeal to underage consumers.
‘The media glamorizes drinking. They romanticize what it’s like to be high,’ said Maryann Amodeo, Director of the Alcohol and Drug Institute for Policy, Training and Research at Boston University. Amodeo said advertisements do not show people vomiting in toilets, boys trying to have sex with intoxicated girls or drunk driving collisions.
Members of the Beer Institute have made revisions to the code since the Sept. 9 FTC report because of concerns raised about teen exposure to alcohol ads. One such revision requires advertisements only be placed in magazines, on television or on radio where at least 70 percent of the audience is expected to be adults 21 years old or older, according to a press release.
Most of the current placements of beer advertising already follow the 70 percent target, Becker said.
According to Alcoholstats.com, Anheuser-Busch only advertises to media outlets where more than 70 percent of the average audience is more than 21 years old 76 percent of Cosmopolitan readers, 85 percent of People readers, 85 percent of E! viewers and 84 percent of ESPN viewers are of-age.
Miller Brewing Company spokesman Mike Hennick said the 70 percent guideline also has not changed how the beer company advertises.
‘It really has no effect on us,’ Hennick said. ‘We have had the 70 percent requirement as our policy since the first FTC report in 1999. We usually hit higher than that.’
But while the guidelines can help, Amodeo said it is only part of the problem.
‘I think that legislation can help curb underage drinking,’ Amodeo said. ‘But it’s still a huge problem. It’s an uphill battle.’
Several BU students said they do think the alcohol industry advertises to underage consumers by glamorizing partying and using attractive actors in their ads, despite the fact that one of the code’s provisions prohibits the portrayal of ‘sexual passion, promiscuity or any other amorous activity as a result of drinking beer.’
‘Even though the people in the ads are in their 20s, younger kids see them as glamorous, so in that way, they market to underage kids,’ said College of Communication freshman Camille Artuso. ‘But going to a party and seeing everyone else having a good time drinking makes kids want to have a good time too, and that’s why I think they drink.’
CGS sophomore Kira Klapper agreed.
‘All billboards show a party atmosphere, and they put obscenely hot girls in ads,’ Klapper said. ‘They are every teenage boy’s dream, and they think they can get girls like that if they party.’
Jon Goren, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore, said he thinks alcohol advertisers market to a young male audience, which includes many underage drinkers.
‘I like the Miller Lite cat-fight girls,’ Goren said. ‘Maybe if I drink Miller Lite; I’m going to be beat up by two hot girls.’
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