Advertising Alcohol to Adults...or Adolescents?

Growing up, I was never exposed to alcohol by my parents.  The media exposed me to alcohol.  When my parents went to a gathering or celebration, they would only have one glass of wine.  Beer was never present in my house, but it was present almost everywhere I went, especially in the media.

Watching TV is one of the ways the human race receives information.  Ads for alcohol are present everywhere and most of the ads are supposedly geared toward people 21 years of age or older.  I know few people who would say that it is okay for their kids to drink alcohol, even when their kids are over 21.  But growing up, many of these kids have already been "educated" on alcohol and some of these kids believe that underage drinking is "a way of making themselves adults."

For my research, I will use the information Henry Saffer has conducted on alcohol awareness and how he has chronicled his findings about alcohol.  Did you know that 90% of all college students drink on a regular basis and many of them have 5 or more drinks a week?  (Saffer).  In another article, the Super Bowl is scrutinized for its never-ending slew of ads for alcohol.  Even if the ad has nothing to do with alcohol, the product sticks out in the minds of the people, causing consumerism.  Almost $23 billion is spend on underage alcohol alone and much of this is due to people's everyday dealings with alcohol.

In the 1990s, many kids under the age of 21 were able to recognize the Budweiser frogs better than they could recognize Bugs Bunny.  I personally do not remember these frogs, but apparently these frogs were one of the most successfully international Budweiser characters (mostly because kids liked them).

Within the other commercials with the frogs, the frogs' croaks would say "Bud-Weis-er."  This commercial is funny to adults, but probably even funnier to kids.  When I saw this ad, I immediately thought of the old Frogger games in which the frog had to cross the street. Clearly, alcohol is present everywhere we look, mostly on the TV.  I would like to make a video about alcohol awareness or conduct an interview with someone who was greatly affected by alcohol.