Dec 21, 2007 6:03 AM, By Patricia Odell
Patricia.Odell@penton.com

Alcohol marketers have made “small progress” over the last five years in reducing youth exposure to print and TV advertising, according to the latest study from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth.

CAMY [http://www.camy.org] at Georgetown University found that “historic” increases in cable television advertising by distilled spirits brands offset declines in youth exposure to alcohol advertising in magazines between 2001 and 2006.

The drop in youth exposure over the five-year period in both media was 6.1%. However, 46% of youth exposure across both media in 2006 continued to come from placements in magazines or programming that youth ages 12 to 20 were more likely per capita to see than adults, CAMY said.

"Youth exposure to alcohol advertising in magazines and on television during this period tells two very different stories," said CAMY executive director David Jernigan in a statement. "Most of the progress made in magazines was undercut by increases in television advertising."

Key findings of the report include:

* Over the five years, the number of alcohol advertisements placed in national magazines fell by 22% (from 3,616 to 2,831), while those on TV grew by 33% (from 225,619 to 299,475).

* Youth exposure to alcohol advertisements in national magazines fell by 50%, while youth exposure to television advertisements grew by 30%.

* During each year since 2001, alcohol advertisements were placed on at least 13 of the 15 television programs with the largest teen audiences (13 of 15 programs in 2001, 15 of 15 programs in 2003, and 14 of 15 programs in all other years, including 2006).

* Distilled spirits companies increased spending on television more than 20-fold from 2001 to 2006, from more than $7.1 million (5,702 advertisements) in 2001, to over $142.4 million (62,821 advertisements) in 2006.

In September 2003, the Beer Institute and the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States announced that their members would limit placements of advertisements to media with youth audiences of 30% or less. Prior to that, the standard was 50%.

The report analyzed 19,466 alcohol advertisements placed in national magazines and 1.7 million alcohol advertisements placed on cable and broadcast network and local broadcast television from 2001 to 2006.

CAMY release a study in 2006 that found that alcohol ads were common on radio stations that have disproportionately large youth audiences. Alcohol marketers and industry lobbying groups said the study was outdated and gave an inaccurate picture of alcohol marketing during the time frame of the study, the summer of 2004.

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