CDC: half of alcohol ads on radio airing on youth programming
About half of the alcohol ads on radio are aired during youth-oriented programs, according to a new study. It's the first to assess alcohol advertising on radio since 2003, when the alcohol industry vowed to no longer run ads on radio programs in which 30% or more of the audience is under 21.
"If alcohol companies had done a better job of following their voluntary standards, youth exposure to alcohol ads on the radio in the summer of 2004 would have been substantially reduced," according to data from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publication, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
However, the figures were collected less than a year after the industry's code was instituted, where some long-standing ad contracts had not yet expired.
Analyzing a sample of 67,404 alcohol ads in 104 U.S. radio markets collected during June 15 to August 5, 2004, researchers from CAMY and CDC found that 14% of all alcohol ads (9,158 ads) aired in programming where youth represented more than 30% of the listening audience. This represented a substantial improvement from 2003, when CAMY found that 28% of alcohol ads had youth audiences greater than 30%.
The alcohol industry's voluntary standard, adopted by beer and distilled spirits trade associations in the fall of 2003, stipulates that alcohol ads not be placed on programs with more than a 30% youth audience (12-20 years old). For 11 of the 25 most advertised brands, half of youth ad exposure resulted from placements that exceeded the 30% standard, including five brands for which approximately three-quarters of youth exposure resulted from these placements. Colt 45 Malt Liquor topped the list, with 87% of its ads on programs exceeding the 30% threshold. Nearly 1,100 Colt 45 Malt Liquor spots were run during such programs. Bud Light placed a much smaller proportion of its ads on such programs, 12%. But Bud Light advertises so heavily that there was a greater number of times Bud Light aired on a program with a disproportionate number of youth listeners.
The study also found that 49% of the 67,404 alcohol ads were placed in youth-oriented programming, defined as programming with youth audiences larger than the population of youth ages 12-20 in the local market. These ads accounted for more than two-thirds (71%) of youth exposure to radio advertising for the leading alcohol brands. The top formats airing youth ads were Alternative and Hip-Hop.
Overall, 238 unique radio ads for the 25 most advertised alcohol brands were catalogued.
Of all ads in the 104 markets, 9,158 (14%) aired on programs for which youth represented >30% of listeners. In 13 markets, approximately one half of ads were in programs that exceeded the 30% standard, whereas in 13 other markets, no ad placements exceeded the 30% threshold. In the 15 largest radio markets, 2,948 (13%) of the advertisements aired on programs in which >30% of the audience was aged 12-20 years, ranging from 5% in Miami to 38% in Washington, DC.
