The alcohol industry spends over two billion dollars a year on advertising and promotion. Many of their ads falsely link alcohol with precisely those attributes and qualities -- happiness, wealth, prestige, sophistication, success, maturity, athletic ability, virility, creativity, sexual satisfaction, and others -- that the abuse of alcohol diminishes and destroys. Such advertising promotes myths about alcohol that contribute to both individual and collective denial. Perhaps most insidiously, alcohol advertisers target alcoholics and heavy drinkers (their best customers, after all) with the promise that alcohol can be a substitute for human relationships and can thus assuage the loneliness that is at the heart of all addictions. Alcohol advertising also encourages young people to believe that drinking heavily is a route to freedom. This presentation juxtaposes these myths with the truth about alcohol-related problems and exposes the alcohol industry's targeting of alcoholics, young people, women and minorities, as well as their efforts to control and censor the media and public policy.
Learning Objectives: Participants will leave the presentation better able to: (1) Critique alcohol advertisements and discuss their underlying messages; (2) Describe how advertisers use psychological information to sell addictive products, especially to vulnerable target audiences; and (3) Describe how advertisers and the media work together to sell alcohol
Keywords: Alcohol Problems, Advocacy
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.