Alcohol Advertisements Exploit Younger Crowds Essay -- Drinking Alcoho

Alcohol Advertisements Exploit Younger CrowdsAccording to the 1998 National firm Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), approximately 19 percentage of teenagers 12 to 17 years old were reported to be engaged in alcoholic drink abuse last year. As teenagers grow older, they tend to maintain a higher level of alcohol consumption. The survey reports that approximately 32 percent of young people aged 18 to 24 continue alcohol abuse. In fact, this is the most troubled age group having the highest rates of alcohol use, alcohol dependence, and need for treatment. In spite of restrictions, several millions of teenagers and adolescents are interested in drinking alcohol and are able to get alcohol. According to the Federal merchandise Commissions survey, alcohol advertising and promotions do not reach, and do not affect teenagers and adolescents. But I contend that younger crowds are reached by alcohol advertisers. Unfortunately, teenagers and adolescents see only the obvious side of alcohol a ds--messages on how drinking alcohol may benefit them. At the same time, alcohol advertisers bop that all these messages is nothing but drawing a veil over the exploitative nature of alcohol ads, and advertisers dont care how younger crowds may benefit from drinking, advertisers simply want their money. Roland Barthes, a French philosopher and literary critic, calls advertisements the signs (47). The sign is a system of signification, which consists of two elements the signifier--actual graphical representation that signifies a concept, and the sensory faculty--the concept, which is signified by the signifier (Barthes 115). The author says that, if the signifier is viewed apart from the concept it utters, the signifier has no meaning and is not... ... putting warning messages about the possible negatively charged consequences of alcohol use in their ads. Works CitedBacardi by Night. Advertisement. Jane Magazine. September 1999. 60-61 Barthes, Roland. Elements of Semiology. New York Hill and Wang. 1968. 42. Barthes, Roland. Mythologies. New York Hill & Wang, 1998. 115. Evans, Janet. Self-Regulation in the Alcohol Industry. US Federal sell Commission. 13 Sept.1999. Online. 12 Nov.99 . Shalala, Donna. 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 18 Aug. 1999. Online posting. 1 Dec. 99 . Stamborski, Al. FTC Asks that Alcohol Ads be Kept From Minors A-B Begins Campaign Against Drinking Abuse. St. Louis Post Dispatch 10 Sept. 1999 C10.