Alcohol advertising is everywhere. If you get in your car, it’s on a billboard. If you walk into a store, it’s on the walls in neon lettering. Open a newspaper, and there it is on the second page. Access your social media, and you’ll see one every few seconds.
For those of us accustomed to it, we may not even think about it that much. It’s simply the way it has always been and a lot of us may even phase it out. But it is also just as blatant in the world for more young and impressionable minds: our children.
Alcohol Advertising to Children in the Digital Age
Alcohol advertising takes full advantage of every single form of media of advertising available. Social media, apps on cell phones, print media and promotions during sports events; you name it and they have done it. A lot of people have accepted it as a part of American culture and life, but should it be?
This day and age, advertising has permeated almost every facet of our lives. If you were born after 1990, a lot of this technology is taken for granted, and it’s just the way it is. But for parents and grandparents of millennials, it can be almost shocking at times when you take in the sheer amount of advertising someone in America sees on a daily basis. And a large portion of these ads has to do with alcohol.
Alcohol Advertising to Children
I would never think that these alcohol ads are directed specifically toward children. I do not believe they do or ever will be driven specifically to grab a younger audience, but the reality is, they do. When children are exposed to alcohol advertising, even indirectly, they are affected by it.
Drinking is a part of our culture and more than likely always will be. But that doesn’t mean that something cannot be done to curb the amount of alcohol advertising to children and how much education they receive on the dangers of it.
What can be done about Alcohol Advertising to Children?
The reality is, with the advent of the technology we use each day, there are ways that a lot of this advertising can be curbed. Social networks and websites gather data specific to the demographics viewing their sites. This data can then be used in turn to curb the types of ads that their audience receives, specifically alcohol advertising to children.
It would take a lot to be able to change the way we advertise and market alcohol entirely. As always, our best course of action is to educate our children on the dangers and pitfalls of alcohol rather than subject them to impressionable advertising as they grow up.
What do you think can be done for alcohol advertising to children?
Last Updated on February 22, 2024
