Public policy and alcoholic beverage advertising

Alcohol abuse is thought to be a major social problem in America. A recent wave of concern has resulted in the formation of action groups, each attempting to prevent further alcohol abuse. One of the larger groups, Project SMART, has proposed either a complete ban on broadcast commercials for beer and wine or equal-time for messages warning about the dangers of alcohol. Project SMART holds that alcohol advertising increases alcohol consumption.

Parallel to Project SMART is the "Fairness in Alcohol Advertising Act of 1985, a pending Congressional bill that would require a radio or tv station to ensure that for every alcoholic beverage commercial run equivalent advertising time for the broadcast of counterbalancing messages would be given to a responsible spokesperson. Advertisers/producers of alcoholic beverages disagree with both Project SMART and the Congressional bill. They believe their ads are legitimate attempts to make consumers aware of the availability of various brands and that advertising does not lead to excessive consumption.

Overriding the debates of alcohol advertising is public policy for alcohol advertising. Regulations for advertising are set on federal and state government levels, as well as within the industry. Interstate and intrastate regulations are somewhat different and advertisers may find themselves caught in a confusion of which regulations are applicable in a given situation. A ban on broadcast ads might further add to the confusions advertisers must face.

Most research indicates that alcohol advertising has no link with alcohol consumption. Many researchers have conducted experiments concerning the effects of such advertising and the results are all much the same: no causal link between the ads and consumption.

The concern would be more appropriately directed to educating alcohol abusers than banning alcohol advertising.