The major goal of the alcohol beverage industry is to sell alcohol, through advertising. In 2008 the alcohol beverage spent $1.63 billion on their advertisement budget which is less than half of what one thinks’ of as advertising which the means are TV, magazines, newspapers, and outdoor billboards. Other forms of advertisements are termed “promotions” which include but not limited to: sponsorship of cultural, musical and sporting events, internet advertising, displays for retail stores, and product placements in movies and TV shows. The total promotion and advertising budget is over $4.9 billion which is virtually equivalent to what is spent on advertising other beverages from milk to fruit juice.
The alcohol beverage industry especially targets the youth by using animation characters, product placement, and social media. The alcohol beverage industry uses animation characters such as the Budweiser frogs, new beverages for example wine coolers that were appealing to the younger people in the 1980’s. Product placement is carefully considered. Magazines and television shows reveals detailed information regarding viewers and readers that allows advertisers to target very specific populations. In response to lobbyists and the fear of government action, in 2003 the liquor and beer trade organizations joined the wine industry in adopting a “30% threshold” to guide the placement of beverage ads. This means they would not advertise where the underage audience exceeds 30%. The magazine ads decreased as the television ads increased. Also the 20 major brewers did not adopt this 30% policy. Since the social media is so popular among the under age drinkers, the alcohol beverage company has many advertisements and promotion on Facebook. The alcohol beverage industries have been encouraged to use free features on Facebook such as Facebook applications, events and pages. In the summer of 2009, there were 93 Facebook pages,
Cited: Kinney, Jean. "Alcohol." Loosening the Grip A Handbook of Alcohol Information. 10th ed. New York: Mcgraw-Hill, 2012. 18-25. Print. Have you ever felt constrained by society’s expectations? Have you complied with society’s expectations because it was so ingrained in you to think otherwise? In Mark Twain’s, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn