Ethical Issues in Alcoholic Beverage Advertising
Alcohol abuse is a known cause of domestic violence, violent assaults, and it is directly responsible for thousands of deaths on American highways and countless non-fatal accidents that account for billions of dollars in property damage and insurance claims (Moore, Jones-Webb, Toomey, et al., 2008). Alcohol abuse is also a significant factor in truancy and in juvenile delinquency despite the fact that alcohol consumption by minors is prohibited by law. Partly for those reasons, the actual consumption of alcoholic beverages is no longer permitted in television advertisements, although beer and other alcoholic beverages are still heavily advertised in television commercials and elsewhere, such as in print media and on billboards (Moore, Jones-Webb, Toomey, et al., 2008).
There are significant ethical issues in connection with empirical studies that link all forms of advertising of alcoholic beverages to increased consumption in general, and both to underage drinking as well as to increased alcohol consumption in poor and minority neighborhoods in particular (Snyder, Milici, Slater, et al., 2006). Those three issues in particular suggest that ethical concerns should prohibit alcohol advertisement, or at least to impose regulations on such advertisement that are no less strict than those that pertain to the advertisement and depiction of smoking.
The Effect of Alcohol Advertisement on Consumption Patterns
Modern advertising media are tremendously effective which is precisely why product...
Teenagers are especially prone to irresponsible behavior and to failing to comprehend the consequences of their behavioral choices for various reasons, including physiological and developmental differences in brain structure and neurochemistry that predispose them to impulsivity and irresponsible behavior in comparison to adults (Snyder, Milici, Slater, et al., 2006). To make matters even worse, teenagers are also the least experienced and worst drivers in terms of their statistical likelihood of being involved in vehicular accidents simply because they are the least experienced of all drivers on the road. Therefore, it should be an obvious concern anytime teenagers begin drinking alcohol.
Unfortunately, empirical evidence also demonstrates conclusively that the advertisement of alcoholic beverages in media consumed by teenagers dramatically increases their likelihood of participating in underage drinking (Snyder, Milici, Slater, et al., 2006). Moreover, that is especially true because teenagers are even more susceptible than adult consumers to advertising messages connecting alcoholic beverage consumption to social popularity, athleticism, and…
