Alcohol And Tobacco In Media Is Harmful To Youth

Alexander Scrivo

English 10H

Mrs. Dennett

Research Paper

Alcohol and Tobacco in Media is Harmful to Youth

Youth are clearly exposed to too many alcohol and tobacco products. Whether its seen in a magazine or on the internet, its negatively affecting their minds in subtle ways. While tobacco advertisements were banned on television in 1970, there are still a variety of ways youth are exposed to tobacco. Children are negatively affected by alcohol and tobacco appearing in media and advertisements because adolescents that view this media have a higher chance to start drinking and smoking and have a more positive attitude towards these substances. It has been argued that alcohol advertisements don’t target adults so they can’t have a huge effect

Tobacco companies can’t use words like “light” or “mild” because they make the products more appealing to younger audiences. (Center for Public Health and Tobacco Policy). These kind of words make the products seem less harmful than they actually are so it’s no surprise they can use them. Although this rule lowers sales and research shows the tobacco industry uses lighter colors for cigarette packages to act as a loophole or substitute for this rule. (Center for Public Health and Tobacco Policy). Bright colors just seems more appealing in general because we associate them with feeling such as happiness and joy. Its natural that a product is made to be appealing but this becomes a problem when it’s a harmful product. It’s actually been found that the imagery used for tobacco products is effective in recruiting new smokers which has led to them being recalled for re-designs. (Center for Public Health and Tobacco Policy). So when adolescence see a brightly colored tobacco product they may know it’s harmful but because of the way it's presented they have different thoughts towards

According to David Jernigan, “Econometric analysis based on data from youth drinking surveys has estimated that a 28 percent reduction in alcohol advertising would reduce the percentage of adolescents who drank in the last month by 4 to 16 percent. The percentage engaging in binge drinking monthly would fall by 8 to 33 percent.” (Children are Overexposed to Alcohol Advertising). This comes as no surprise because alcohol is the most advertised and most used drug in the United States. (Kilbourne). On top of that alcohol advertising is seen all over the place by everyone. Whether it's in a magazine, on the ratio, inside stores, on tv or on the internet, alcohol is everyone and not much is done to keep minors from seeing it. According to David Jernigan, “On television, in 2001, 11 percent of alcohol products advertisements were on television programming with youth audiences greater than 30 percent. By 2007, 6 percent of alcohol product advertisements were on television programming with youth audiences greater than 30 percent.” (Children are Overexposed to Alcohol Advertising). The purpose of any advertisement is to make the viewers want to try the products being advertised and it's no different when adolescents see an alcohol advertisements. No matter the advertiser's intention, the facts show that a significant number of minors are seeing alcohol ads which will lead