Alcohol and Advertising

3) Are some beer, wine, or spirits ads misleading? What examples can you give? What is misleading in them? Do some ads contain images and themes that go too far in appealing to an audience under the legal drinking age? Can you give examples?

Depending on how the ads are placed in local media, and who is complaining about the ads determines whether or not the ads are misleading or not. There are strict guidelines handed down from various organizations that control the placement and the regulations of alcohol advertising. Some companies might push the limits and test the system, but since the regulations are in place there is no room for inappropriate ads in the media today. The regulations are voluntary and made up by the alcohol companies themselves an example of this is stated in one of the pages of the regulations. It states:

"The beer industry's voluntary advertising codes are written to prevent restrictions on advertising. In addition, voluntary codes are not legally enforceable. Most of the statements give the industry a lot of leeway in ads. For example, the Anheuser-Busch code specifies that advertising is intended to be used "where most of the audience is reasonably expected to be above the legal purchase age." The word "most" is the key: even if almost half the audience is below the legal purchase age, the code permits such advertising" (Macmillan Reference).

The ways people think these ads are misleading is the placement of them. There are beer and liquor ads that show up on channels which the majority of the viewers are under the legal drinking age. This could be a misleading placement, but the ad itself will not be misleading. Heineken had an ad that had two beers next to a gaming console that said its game time. This could be misleading, and it could be said the target market were teens, but this could not be proven because more than just teens own gaming consoles.

Some companies do try and push the limits and make the ads seem appealing to the youthful market, but it is not their full intention. There is no feasible way to display ads for alcohol companies that will not been seen by the under age market. "Ads That Are Truthful and Not Misleading Are Protected Even When Seen by Underage Viewers. Under the first test, alcohol beverage advertising must concern a lawful activity and not be misleading - a test satisfied by virtually all alcohol industry messages, despite contrary assertions that adult messages seen by the underage are somehow improper" (Versfelt and Hoffman, pg2). When ads are placed in a network there is no way that an underage person will not see one throughout the day. Each underage person is subjected to over 20 alcohol ads a day, and sometimes more. Billboards, commercials, ads in magazines, and other sources display alcohol brands, because this is the way to survive in the market place. Advertising is the