If you ask the federal government, a 12-ounce beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine and a 1 1/2 ounce of 80 proof distilled spirit all contain the same amount of alcohol. Other organizations measure alcohol equivalence the same way, including Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association.
Why does alcohol equivalence matter to advertising on television?
Peter Cressy, President of Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) says the ban on spirit ads on television is "a disservice to the American public because it blocks responsible advertising while reinforcing the dangerous misperception that beer is 'soft' alcohol and spirits are 'hard' alcohol." Frank Coleman also from the same organization argues, "There's no law prohibiting spirits producers to advertise their products on television. Further, as the federal governmen agrees, alcohol is alcohol, it makes no sense to prohibit spirits and allow beer. Clearly beer industry wants the marketplace to itself."
Over the last five years, distilled spirits commercials have been aired on more than 400 broadcast stations nationwide including Fox, ESPN, USA, Discovery Networks, Bloomberg and more.
Center for Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at Georgetown University, an organization that monitors alcohol industry's marketing says, "television alcohol advertising in 2003 resulted in alcoholic beverage advertising not only reaching legal-age drinkers, but also substantially exposing young people to their products, sometimes to an even greater extent per capita than adults."
Do alcohol ads cause exessive drinking behavior and drunk driving?
Can we blame on alcohol commercials for underage drinking?
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) says they are not against alcohol advertising but, "it is imperative that stricter standards be put in place to protect our children from constant exposure to irresponsible alcohol messages and marketing. Studies show that alcohol advertising may predispose young people to drinking."
Federal Trade Commission says there is no reliable basis to conclude that alcohol advertising affects consumption. The Department of Health and Human Services agrees, there's no significant relationship between alcohol ads and absue.
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"Because advertising is so very visible, it tends to become an easy target for those who want to restrict access to alcohol, but there really is little reason to suppose it makes any difference to rates of alcoholism, road traffic deaths or underage drinking."
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"Advertising is just one influence over consumers, and certainly not the most powerful one," says Marcus Grant, president of the International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP).
A few years ago when the World Health Organization (WHO) asked Grant to write a report on the ethical position of alcohol marketing and young people, ICAP could not find any evidence of a direct linkage between advertising and patterns of drinking, or between advertising and any form of alcohol-related problems.
"Because advertising is so very visible, it tends to become an easy target for those who want to restrict access to alcohol, but there really is little reason to suppose it makes any difference to rates of alcoholism, road traffic deaths or underage drinking," says Grant.
Recent alcohol advertising (beer, wine and spirits combined) spending was nearly $1.6 billion, over 10 times the amount spent on milk ads ($138) according to the National Research Council Institute of Medicine 2003.
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Related links:
Distilled Spirits Council of the United States
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
International Center for Alcohol Policies
Center for Alcohol Marketing and Youth
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