ABSTRACT
It is estimated that the costs of alcohol abuse and alcoholism, including health care, motor vehicle and other accidents, and lost productivity, may exceed $40 billion per year (NIAAA, 1978). The role of alcohol beverage advertising in the genesis of alcohol problems has received considerable public attention in recent years, including editorials in national and local media, regulatory proposals, 1 and congressional hearings. 2 Criticisms of alcohol beverage advertising have included the concerns that (1) alcohol advertising has undesirable effects, especially on subgroups of the population that are assumed to be particularly susceptible to mass media influences and/or alcohol abuse, (2) such advertising is targeted specifically and disproportionately at these sub- groups, such as women, blacks, and youth, (3) alcohol advertising is a major component in mass media portrayals of alcohol beverage consumption as normative, and (4) that a large percentage of alcohol advertisements include objectionable thematic content as well as inappropriate role models for certain population subgroups.
