Stereotypes: Adverse Effects On Adolescents

Adverse effects of alcohol advertisements on adolescents.
With undesirable role models of masculinity as well as promotions of alcohol appearing more frequently in advertisements and through an increase in media consumption, the consequential effects on the youth must be considered. Good morning/afternoon representatives and board members of the United Nations Youth Forum; a major concern raised by Susan Gigli in her 2004 UNICEF report was that young people have an apparent inability to distinguish between advertising and content on televisions and how this can be harmful through creation of unrealistic false stereotypes. This would not be a problem if advertisements were not littered with misrepresentations of men and alcohol culture; indoctrinating the developing youth’s minds through these marketing campaigns. Today I will focus on a recent XXXX Gold Beer advertisement, and how it is problematic as it encourages young men to pursue a future of
The male characters shown in XXXX Gold’s advertisement, demonstrate their masculinity through their apparent lazy lifestyle and a demonstrated lack of formality, which can be harmful to the youth who may perceive this as a representation of a regular lifestyle and male character. Unfortunately, this outdoor, alcoholic Australian male stereotype can be found in numerous advertisements and throughout the media. This only goes to reinforce this false stereotype that is associated with masculinity. These predominant stereotypes can have consequential detrimental effects on the youth, such as encouraging such a lifestyle that is seemingly relaxed but unviable socially and financially; which is very harmful as a representation of masculinity in the media, corroborating with Gigli’s point regarding the presence of unrealistic and harmful stereotypes in the