argumentative eassy

I. Thousands of incidences are reported over the world every day due to alcohol consumption, such as drink driving, underage drinking and other health factors. I will summarize why alcohol product advertising should be banned with supporting evidence.

II. Body
A. Effects of advertisement
1. Advertisement is a powerful tool of producers to upswing the sale of the products. Example: Everyone watches TV almost every single day of their lives, thus come across alcohol advertisements.
2. Commercials alter peoples thinking into buying advertised products to satisfy their basic needs Example: advertisers create the ad in such a way to keep the viewer from thinking and force on making the choices based on emotional response

B. Effects on children from alcohol advertisement
1. Another big issue concerning alcohol consumption in our youth is the increasing levels of underage drinking. Example: This leads to a chain of problems such as, sexual assault, suicide and social consequences.
2. Even though children are not the target audience for the commercials, they do get highly influenced by their parents. Example: According to David J. Hanson’s research, 62% of American youth aged 12 to 17 identified their parents as a leading influence.

C. Hiding Negative information of alcohol in advertisements
1. Producers of alcohol only advertise positive substance about the product, without giving further information on the risks associated with the beverage. Example: Alcohol commercials do not give any information about the amount of alcohol one should take before it is too harmful to the human body
2. Hiding the negative information in ads increases viewers willingness of wanting the product. Example: Alcohol advertisements only display positive information about with which leads to overconsumption of alcohol.

D. Advantages and disadvantages of alcohol consumption
1. Small alcohol consumption is healthy for the body but excessive increases heart related diseases /example mild alcohol consumption reduces risk of cardiovascular diseases but over consumption can lead to heart stroke.
2. Banning alcohol will reduce the risk of heart related diseases due to over consumption/example: studies show advertisement of alcohol increase its consumption hence put more people in health risks associated due to excessive drinking.

III. In conclusion, alcohol advertisement should be banned as it has a negative impact on its audience. It increases consumption by adults. In addition it increases underage drinking and health risks.

Thousands of incidences are reported over the world every day due to alcohol consumption, such as drink driving, underage drinking and other health factors. Advertisement of alcohol has a big impact in these matters. The main objective of this essay is to gather information about alcohol advertising and address, whether alcohol advertisement upsurges alcohol consumption in our youth. Throughout my essay I will discuss the four major premises about alcohol advertisement such as, effects of advertisement, effects on children from alcohol advertisement, hiding negative information of alcohol in advertisements, and lastly if it increases the risks of drink driving. I will summarize why alcohol product advertising should be banned with supporting evidence.

Television advertisement is a powerful tool of producers to upswing the sale of the products. Everyone watches TV almost every single day of their lives, thus come across alcohol advertisements. “The average American is exposed to 61 minutes of TV ads and promotions a day” (Stelter. 2009. para.1). Does advertising alcohol impact the viewer’s positively or negatively? According to Adam Dachis (2011) “advertisers create the ad in such a way to keep the viewer from thinking and force on making the choices based on emotional response” (para.7). In another words, commercials alter peoples thinking into buying advertised products to satisfy their basic needs. Looking at the facts, advertisements do enhance public awareness of the product and the hunger to consume more amounts of the good. This means, advertising alcohol will not only increase its usage but also inspire nondrinkers into drinking alcohol. By banning alcohol advertisement we are not only decreasing its use, but also reducing risks of more nondrinkers to start craving for the drink in our youth as well as lessening the risks of alcoholism.

Another big issue concerning alcohol consumption in our youth is the increasing levels of underage drinking. This leads to a chain of problems such as, sexual assault, suicide and social consequences. However there is very little evidence that alcohol advertising encourages children/teenagers to drink. For example, The Statistical Assessment Service (2010) stated, “The belief that advertising induces teenagers to drink underscores attempts by lawmakers and anti-alcohol groups to impose stricter regulation and restrictions on how alcohol is marketed” (para.39). Even though children are not the target audience for the commercials, they do get highly influenced by their parents. This indicates high risk of underage drinking through third party effect of the commercials. According to David J. Hanson (2009) in “Alcohol advertising,” American parents are highly influenced by advertisement of the beverages. For example, Hanson stated “among six things that might affect their decisions about drinking, 62% of American youth aged 12 to 17 identified their parents as a leading influence” (para.19). This concludes alcohol advertisement increases consumption of today’s parents by excessive amounts. In addition it increases the risks of underage drinking. Looking at statistics, banning alcohol advertisement will not only decrease alcohol consumption but also lower the rate of underage drink in our youth by a huge amount.

Producers of alcohol only advertise positive substance about the product, without giving further information on the risks associated with the beverage. For example, alcohol commercials do not give any information about the amount of alcohol one should take before it is too harmful to the human body. This could easily result in over consumption of alcohol by an individual who does not have sufficient knowledge about drinking limitations. So why not give details on the negative things about the product as well as positive? According to Klebba and Unge (1983) in “The Impact of Negative and Positive Information on Source Credibility in a Field Setting”, negative information about the product has a much greater impact on audience then the positive (pg.1). Also Klebba and Unge found that after hiding the side effects of the product and advertising only the appealing information, it increased the amount one consumed of the good to be satisfied. This conveys the fact that banning advertisement of the product is the best alternative as it would reduce health risks associated and over consumption of alcohol. Banning alcohol advertisement does not mean banning the product usage as a whole, but doing so to impact the audience enticed by the drink.

Drinking alcohol beverages for celebrations or just a social gathering is a common event around the globe, but not many people think about the advantages and disadvantages of alcohol consumption. Studies show, cardiovascular diseases is a major cause of death in American. Cardiovascular diseases can impact many organs of the body and lead to a stroke or heart attack. According to researchers mild alcohol consumption raises good cholesterol levels in human body which reduces the chance of cardiovascular diseases. Small amount of alcohol consumption may be beneficial to the body but continued excessive consumption increases the risks of heart related diseases. Aureau Walding (2011) stated “Excess alcohol consumption also increases the chance of chronic high blood pressure, which impacts the functionality of your heart” (p.1). As mentioned before alcohol advertisement does have an impact on public consumption levels, which means it increases the health risks of many Americans. By Banning Alcohol advertisement it will save millions of American’s lives (Para.2).

In conclusion, advertisement of alcohol does have a massive impact on its audience. It doesn’t only increases consumption levels of the adult viewers but also influences the younger generation to start drinking, thus leading to higher levels of health risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption within the community. Therefore alcohol advertisement should be banned.

References
Snyder, L.B., Milici, F.F., Slater, M., Sun, H., & Strizhakova, Y. (2006). Effects of Alcohol Advertising Exposure on Drinking Among Youth. (N.B.) Retrieved from Jama Pediatrices database.
Stelter, B. (2009). Media & Advertising. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/business/media/27adco.html
Dachis, A. (2011). How Advertising Manipulates Your Choices and Spending Habits (and what to do about it). Lifehacker. Retrieved from http://lifehacker.com/5824328/how-advertising-manipulates-your-choices-and-spending-habits-and-what-to-do-about-it
Saffer, H. & Dave, D. (2002): Alcohol consumption and alcohol advertising bans. Applied Economics, 34:11, 1325-1334
Prof. Hanson, D.J. (2013) Alcohol problems and solutions. Bitglyph. Retrieved from http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Advertising.html
Klebba, J.M., Unger, L.S. (1983) The Impact of Negative and Positive Information on Source Credibility in a Field Setting. Association for consumer research. Retrieved from http://www.acrwebsite.org/search/view-conference-proceedings.aspx?Id=6070
The Statistical Assessment Service (STATS). (2010). Alcohol and Advertising. STATS. Retrieved from http://alcoholnews.org/Alcohol_advertising.html
Saffer, H. (1990). Alcohol advertising bans and alcohol abuse: An international perspective. Journal of health economics 10 (1991) 65-79.
Gordon, R., MacKintosh, A.M., & Moodie, C. (2010). The Impact of Alcohol Marketing on Youth Drinking Behaviour: A Two-stage Cohort Study. Alcohol and Alcoholism Vol. 45, No. 5, pp. 470–480, 2010
Walding, A. (2011). The advantages & disadvantages of drinking alcoholic beverages. Livestrong. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/517854-the-advantages-disadvantages-of-drinking-alcoholic-beverages/

References: Snyder, L.B., Milici, F.F., Slater, M., Sun, H., & Strizhakova, Y. (2006). Effects of Alcohol Advertising Exposure on Drinking Among Youth. (N.B.) Retrieved from Jama Pediatrices database. Stelter, B. (2009). Media & Advertising. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/business/media/27adco.html Dachis, A. (2011). How Advertising Manipulates Your Choices and Spending Habits (and what to do about it). Lifehacker. Retrieved from http://lifehacker.com/5824328/how-advertising-manipulates-your-choices-and-spending-habits-and-what-to-do-about-it Saffer, H. & Dave, D. (2002): Alcohol consumption and alcohol advertising bans. Applied Economics, 34:11, 1325-1334 Prof. Hanson, D.J. (2013) Alcohol problems and solutions. Bitglyph. Retrieved from http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Advertising.html Klebba, J.M., Unger, L.S. (1983) The Impact of Negative and Positive Information on Source Credibility in a Field Setting. Association for consumer research. Retrieved from http://www.acrwebsite.org/search/view-conference-proceedings.aspx?Id=6070 The Statistical Assessment Service (STATS). (2010). Alcohol and Advertising. STATS. Retrieved from http://alcoholnews.org/Alcohol_advertising.html Saffer, H. (1990). Alcohol advertising bans and alcohol abuse: An international perspective. Journal of health economics 10 (1991) 65-79. Gordon, R., MacKintosh, A.M., & Moodie, C. (2010). The Impact of Alcohol Marketing on Youth Drinking Behaviour: A Two-stage Cohort Study. Alcohol and Alcoholism Vol. 45, No. 5, pp. 470–480, 2010 Walding, A. (2011). The advantages & disadvantages of drinking alcoholic beverages. Livestrong. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/517854-the-advantages-disadvantages-of-drinking-alcoholic-beverages/