Break needed from alcohol ads

Alcohol advertising is one of the primary culprits in the normalization of youth drinking. Addressing it is an important part of the effort to curb underage alcohol use.

Editorial. Feb. 24, 2003.

Just a month ago, people across the country observed what has become a national tradition -- Super Bowl Sunday. But its celebration highlights one of the nation's most difficult public health challenges: The attraction of young people to alcohol.

The hype of the big game goes beyond the playing field, and well into partying and product promotion. A key focal point has become the commercials, designed to be hip and to create a buzz. Advertising experts gave the highest accolades this time to a beer maker, a company that also happened to claim the biggest tab of all the advertisers that day -- $20 million for 11 spots.

Considered in a vacuum, maybe it is possible to weigh these ads in terms of art and style. But it is their aggregate effect on young television viewers -- not just on Super Bowl Sunday, but on the other 364 days of the year, too -- that is a serious concern for the American Medical Association and physicians everywhere.

The AMA long has focused on how alcohol advertising affects young people, who, studies show, typically will see 100,000 beer commercials before reaching age 18. These ads are a major contributor to the "normalization" of alcohol use by children and youth -- a phenomenon that has reached epidemic proportions. About 11 million Americans younger than 21 drink, and nearly half of them drink to excess. Boys usually try alcohol for the first time at just 11 years old, while the average first-drink age for American girls is 13.