Sex, Vices, and Advertising

TV Media

~~ Introduction ~~ Beer ~~ Liquor ~~ Wine ~~

Selling Alcohol

Selling Tobacco

Selling Sex

The presence of all forms of alcohol in television advertising is quite prevalent.  Everyone is bombarded with countless advertisements daily.  This site will explore the world of alcohol in television advertising.

 

So much money is spent on advertising alcohol.  Including all forms of media (television, magazine, radio, outdoor, and newspapers) approximately $1.939 billion was spent on advertising alone in 2002.  Marketing for alcohol totals almost over ten times the amount spent on milk advertisements of $137.7 million.  Out of all mediums for advertisements, television has the biggest focus of their efforts.  Out of the total $1.939 billion spent on advertising in all mediums in 2002, $1.115 billion funded television advertisements.  <http://www.madd.org/stats/0,1056,1777,00.html> <http://camy.org/factsheets/print.php?FactsheetID=18>.

 

Each year, college students spend approximately $5.5 billion on alcohol - more than than they spend on soft drinks, milk, juice, tea, coffee, and books combined. <http://www.madd.org/stats/0,1056,1777,00.html>

 

The number of ads for alcohol have steadily been on the increase on cable networks.  In 2001, 208,909 ads ran.  It then substantially grew to 289,381 ads in 2002, and tapered off somewhat last year with 298,054 ads.  This information is also presented in the table below.  <http://camy.org/research/tv1004/>

Year Number of ads
2001 208,909
2002 289,381
2003 298,054

 

The original all-time high of advertising expenses was $1.26 billion in 1985.  It then declined to $1 billion in 1994, but has been on the rise ever since.  Last year topped almost $2 million, greatly passing the previous peak in 1985. <http://www.ftc.gov/reports/alcohol/appendixb.htm>