Should Alcohol and Tobacco Advertising Be Allowed On Television?

Introduction

During the last few years, there has been a controversy over the advertising of tobacco and alcohol on television. It is widely believed that the advertising of tobacco and alcohol is contributing towards increased consumption of alcohol. In addition, the increased consumption of alcohol is an important factor behind the increasing alcohol abuse among teenagers (Anderson, pp. 2).

The role of alcohol and tobacco advertising in increasing underage consumption of these products is a significant issue. There has been a controversy among public health experts and marketers of alcohol and tobacco regarding the impact of tobacco as well as alcohol advertising on television. According to some public health experts and researchers, tobacco as well as alcohol marketing on TV should be banned. It is also believed by another group of people that advertising has no impact on increasing consumption of alcohol and tobacco.

The current controversy stems from the removal of the Distilled Spirits Council's ban on the advertising of liquor on television and radio. In 1996, an appeal was made to the court to prohibit the outdoor advertising of alcohol. The efforts were also made to ban the advertising of tobacco on television. The ban of tobacco advertising in different parts of the country is an example of successful efforts that was a result of Master Settlement Agreement. In addition, a number of ordinances were declared in Cleveland, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Detroit to restrict the public visibility of alcohol advertising.

Discussion

There is no denying the fact that advertising is an important marketing tool. Advertising is also used a method of competition particularly in concentrated markets. The use of advertising as a method of competition is common in the cigarette industry. Companies in the tobacco and alcohol industries promote their products through advertising in order to increase their sales.

There are a number of empirical studies that have been conducted to identify the drawbacks of tobacco and alcohol advertising. According to these studies, advertising does not contribute towards increased consumption of tobacco and alcohol. However, these results are not accepted by many public health advocacy organizations.

According to the advertising response function, the utilization of a product increases at a decreasing rate with the increase in advertising. From the advertising response function, it can be comprehended that the consumption of alcohol does not increase with increased advertising.

Another function that can be used to describe the association between advertising and utilization is the industry-level response function. In order to explain the industry-level response function, cross section data from local markets can be used. According to the industry-level advertising response, if measured at a high level, there is little or no association between advertising and consumption.

The concerns about the possible effects advertising on the consumption of alcohol and alcohol abuse have made it significant to ban alcohol and tobacco advertising.

According to a recent national survey, 67 percent of adults in the United States believe that it is imperative to ban liquor advertisement on ...