Alcohol advertisements mislead

These days, advertising is almost everywhere we go, it’s what we see each and every day. Alcohol advertisements reaches the youth through various media such as billboards, magazines, sports, stadium signs and many more. According to two studies conducted by the South African Medical Research System (SAMRC) and Soul City Institute, alcohol has a direct influence on the drinking patterns of young people in the country. SAMRC made the similar study in Tshwane and found out 90% of young people had been exposed to alcohol advertising; the studies looked at alcohol availability and young people drinking patterns.

The minister of health Aaron Motsoaledi has urged society to support him in his bid to stop the advertising of alcohol beverages. He has announced that draft legislation to provide a total ban is to be presented to parliament this month. If this bill could be passed, he believes that it could save billions of rand in health costs. In 1997 the tobacco industry and the advertising agencies, all said there would be massive job losses, if the cigarettes and tobacco products were removed in the advertisement, but the truth is no jobs were lost.

Before graduating high school, students will spend about 18,000 hours in front of television more than they will spend in school. During this time they will watch about 2,000 alcohol commercials on television each year. Imagining sitting at home watching this ad that is playing and people on it become stylish and sexy after using the product. Bear in mind that in University you are on your own, you can party and drink alcohol as much as want.

Alcohol ads typically portray people cool and fun after using the advertised alcohol, the product makes occasions better and people want to be seen drinking this product. I mean imagine you are a first year student at University and you have low self- esteem and you saw this cool ad that makes people look cool and you will say to yourself why not try this product so that I can look cool myself like no one wants to look uncool and uptight in front of their peers.

It is indeed a great move of banning alcohol advertisements because this could lower the alcohol abuse the youth would not be encouraged to drink alcohol. Alcohol advertisement is like they tell people to go and drink alcohol because they make everything look normal and it gives young people the impression that drinking alcohol is a way to go and it is what happens in our daily basis. Some advertisement show that you will be good at sport after drinking their product, question is how you can be good at something when you are not sober, rather drink water than alcohol.

 


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