Americans realize how tobacco companies have marketed cigarettes to our children, and we have taken strong actions to limit their abusive advertising practices. It’s time parents demand the same accountability from the alcohol industry. Alcohol companies know the Super Bowl attracts our children, and for the past 20 years Budweiser has been its largest advertiser, consistently running 8 to 10 commercials in the big game. Despite claims that they do not market to youth, Budweiser knows kids are watching—14 million youth below age 18 watched last year’s Super Bowl according to Nielsen ratings, and over 7 million of them were under 12.
Budweiser consistently airs commercials containing cute animals, humor and fun music—elements that the Prevention Research Center in Berkeley, CA have identified as what kids love most in ads. The USA Today Ad Meter found that in last year’s Super Bowl, Budweiser aired 3 of the top 10 rated spots. The highest rated spot clearly featured elements that target children, telling the story of a dog that trains a forlorn horse to join the Budweiser team. And the year before that, the highest rated spot was once again a spot with cute animals, music and humor. The USA today labeled this spot “Crabs worship Bud ice chest.”
Lost in the slick laughter, are the serious health consequences children suffer from drinking. Four in 10 teenagers who get drunk by age 15 become alcoholics later in live. In addition, brain scans conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh of teens who drink show they lose an average 10% of their brain’s ability to function when compared to non-drinking teens. This is no laughing matter.
What is crazy is that on a governmental level, our society actually condones marketing that abuses our children. We give tax deductions for advertising to alcohol companies, even though social scientists have found a direct correlation between teen drinking rates and the alcohol advertising dollars spent in markets where teens live. Until our community is ready to limit how alcohol companies train our children to drink dangerously, we need to do our individual part to solve this problem.
One person doing this is Dr. Peter DeBenedittis, one of America’s foremost media literacy experts. He is offering a newly revised version of a free lesson that parents, teachers and health activists can use with children to combat the alcohol advertising they’ll see in the Super Bowl. The lesson asks students to keep a log of alcohol promotions during an hour of the game, and then provides resources for analyzing alcohol ads…so after the big game talk to your children or students! More and more studies are showing that children who understand how alcohol marketing targets them are significantly less likely to drink. Visit http://www.medialiteracy.net and download the lesson called “Analyzing Super Bowl Ads.” Do your kids a favor by teaching them to be savvy about predatory marketing tactics.
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