Alcohol Advertising

Energy Drinks Contribute to Placebo Effect When Combined with Alcohol

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Alcohol and energy drinks have become a popular combination among drinkers, especially those in college. The common belief is that energy drinks help mask the alcohol, making the drinker feel more alert and not as intoxicated. However, a new study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, shows that energy drinks actually act as a placebo, causing the person to feel more intoxicated than they really are.

This is an important discovery because it sheds light on what is really happening at bars, parties and clubs all over the world. People are consuming drinks that, psychologically, make them feel more drunk than they really are, and this has an impact on their behavior, decision-making, and psychological state.

The study, which focused 154 young men, relied on questionnaires filled out before, during and after consuming alcohol beverages. The participants were either given a glass that said: Red Bull and vodka, vodka cocktail or fruit juice cocktail. And while the participants thought these were different drinks, the researchers had actually made all the drinks the same. However, the men who thought they were drinking vodka and Red Bull reported feeling more intoxicated, daring and sexually self-confident. This was especially true for those men that had stated that energy drinks make someone more intoxicated.

In the end, the men who consumed the drinks that were labeled with Red Bull and Vodka reported an increased intoxication level of 51% over those that consumed beverages in glasses marked with other ingredients.

“Beliefs that people have about a product can be just as important as the ingredients of the product itself. Regulations and codes of conduct should consider the psychological – and not just physiological – effects of products,” explained the authors of the study.

Should We Stop Advertising Alcohol?

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The tobacco industry was hit hard when it was determined that they could not advertise their products on television or radio. The decision was made after considering overwhelming evidence that tobacco caused different types of cancers, lung diseases and was dangerous to children. However, alcohol companies have been able to continue advertising, despite the clear dangers associated with heavy alcohol use. Some people are looking to put an end to this, especially after a new study was published, focusing on alcohol advertisements.

The study concluded that alcohol advertising should be more regulated, specifically to protect children. The study focused on how often children were exposed to alcohol advertisements. It was discovered that sporting events were responsible for some of the most exposure for children to alcohol ads. This would make sense, events like the Super Bowl are viewed by as many 100 million people, making it an advertiser’s dream. In fact, some of the most iconic Super Bowl commercials have been about alcohol. After all, who can forget the Budweiser Clydesdale horses? But, many of these viewers are children. And if it was deemed unsafe and irresponsible to advertise tobacco products, why is it ok to advertise alcohol to children?

In the past alcohol companies have been tasked with monitoring themselves when it comes to advertisement placement. This means that alcohol companies do not advertise on children’s channels, or in children’s magazines. But this type of self-editing does not seem to be working, according to the study.

“Governments have previously approved self-regulatory measures on alcohol advertising; however, we can no longer say that they might work to protect our young people – they don’t. In a literature review of more than 100 studies, none was identified that supported the effectiveness of industry self-regulation programs,” commented Chris Brooke of the UK Health Forum, where the study took place.

Included in the study is a list of suggested changes made to current advertisement policies that would decrease the amount of exposure children have to alcohol. The most extreme suggestion is that there should be a ban on all alcohol advertising, but the list also includes things like; regulations should be enforced by the government – not the alcohol companied and regulations should be developed outside of the alcohol companies.

Underage Females Now Consuming Alcohol Before Males

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Breaking down misconceptions of alcohol use is an important factor in preventing future alcohol abuse problems. Underage drinking is societal problem that parents, law enforcement, healthcare providers and government officials have been battling for decades.

New research shows that teenage girls are now drinking earlier than teenage boys. This is the first time that the sexes have made this switch and it seems that adults are not far behind. Adult women are closing the gap with adult males in drinking frequency and amount.

According to researchers, underage drinking for females can be traced to a few different factors. Some experts are pointing their fingers at alcohol advertisers. There is an increase in fruity, sweet-tasting drinks available to consumers and teenage girls tend to gravitate towards these types of beverages. Additionally, drinking has become more accepted in society. In the past, males have consumed more and earlier in life, while girls stayed away from alcohol until they were older. Because of this, many programs and initiatives to curb underage drinking are geared towards boys instead of girls.

Testing and research measures that gauge drinking trends have also changed. Researchers have gotten more sophisticated with their testing questions and study groups. This has allowed the medical community to spot this change among teenagers.

“We found that over that period of time, differences in measures such as current drinking, number of drinking days per month, reaching criteria for an alcohol use disorder and driving under the influence of alcohol in the past year, al narrowed for females and males,” explained Aaron White, the study author and senior scientific advisor to the director of the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Since teenage drinking is more likely to lead to an adult drinking problem, it is imperative that stronger and more effective programs are developed to curb underage alcohol abuse. Additionally, equal attention should be given to educating both males and females, as indicated in the study that appeared in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Some Wine Companies Misleading About Alcohol Content

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Any type of alcoholic beverage label contains the amount of alcohol within that bottle. This is done so that the consumer is aware of exactly what they are putting into their body and can make the most well informed decisions on how much to drink. The idea is that knowing the alcohol content of one’s drink will allow that person to predetermine how much they will be able to consume. However, it has been found that some wine companies are misrepresenting exactly how much alcohol is in their wine. This deception can prove dangerous by leading to over consumption of alcohol and can increase the likelihood that someone would make poor decisions because of an elevated amount of alcohol in their system.

Researchers at the University of California released their study to the Journal of Wine Economics after finding that alcohol content was actually, on average, 0.42% higher than reported on the labels. And while this type of discrepancy might not seem like a big problem, researchers are insistent that the misleading of consumers is not only unethical, but dangerous as well.

“A discrepancy of 0.4 percentage points might not seem large relative to an actual value of 13.6 per cent alcohol by volume, but even errors of this magnitude could lead consumers to underestimate the amount of alcohol they have consumed in ways that could have some consequences for their health and driving safety,” explained Professor Julian Alston, of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California.

In response to the study, some wine makers have admitted to altering the stated alcohol content on the label because they are trying to keep more in line with what consumers are expecting. According to the research, Spanish and Chilean wines were the biggest offenders in the red wine category, while American and Chilean wines were the biggest offenders in the white wine category.

Accurate and truthful labeling, especially when it comes to alcohol, is necessary to ensure that drinkers are given the proper opportunity to engage in safe alcohol consumption. Covertly decreasing the amount of stated alcohol content can lead some people to consume more alcohol than intended and set the drinker up for dangerous decision making and alcohol habits.

Alcohol on TV a Potential Problem for Teens

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Teenagers are often susceptible to peer pressure, negative comments, insecurities about their bodies, personalities and minds. There is evidence that alcohol-related TV ads are potentially harmful to teenagers as well. A new study shows that exposure to television ads that show alcohol increase the likelihood of adolescents picking up a drink. Further study also shows that those adolescents that are more likely to pick up a drink are also more likely to engage in risky and dangerous behavior when it comes to alcohol.

Currently, alcohol companies are self-regulating their ads when it comes to underage drinkers. This means that the companies are taking it upon themselves to keep their ads away from young viewers and thereby prevent them from being persuaded to drink because of the advertisements.

For years now, alcohol companies have claimed that their ads are shown on channels and at times when teenagers are not likely to be present. “Alcohol companies claim their advertising does not affect underage drinking – that instead it is parents and friends that are the culprits. This study suggests otherwise: that underage youths are exposed to and engaged by alcohol marketing, and this prompts initiation of drinking as well as transitions from trying to hazardous drinking,” explained James D. Sargent, a pediatrician and a pediatric oncology professor at Dartmouth University.

According to the study, viewers between the ages of 15 and 17 were over 23% likely to see televised ads relating to alcohol, that number is similar to viewers between the ages of 18 and 20. Despite what the marketing companies for alcohol beverages claim, both age groups are as likely to see these ads as those between the ages of 21 and 23. These numbers illustrate the discrepancy between what the alcohol companies are claiming and reality. Children are just as likely to view ads selling alcohol as those that are of drinking age.

Because of the familiarity with advertisements relating to alcohol, children are more receptive to alcohol. Researchers point out that a correlation between viewing these ads and binge drinking exists. 29% of children between the age of 15 and 17 report binge drinking, and 18% admit to risky behavior when it comes to alcohol.