“This Bud’s For You” — How Propaganda Promoting Alcohol Consumption is Lying to You
I selected this topic for my project/speech since it is relevant to the stage of life in which I am currently in. As a college student in my early twenties, I am constantly surrounded by friends drinking and have become more aware of when my family is drinking as well. Not that I believe anyone around me has a problem, but the normalization of excessive drinking is something that I have an increased interest in. For this project, I chose to view this problem through the lens of propaganda and researched how advertisements for beer, wine, and mixed drinks (advertisements for hard liquor were banned in 1948), affect our country’s growing rate of alcoholism.
I read three main sources that discussed the harmful side of alcohol advertisements, the prevalence of alcoholism in the US, and binge drinking. I learned that the more someone views advertisements and commercials about drinking or alcoholic beverage companies, the more likely they are to consume more drinks (Cornell), that 29.5 million people in the United States suffer from Alcohol Use Disorder (NIAAA), and that binge drinking and heavy alcohol use, which is very common in college settings, can increase an individual’s risk of Alcohol Use Disorder (NIAAA).
The advertisement that I viewed was produced by Budweiser, and was promoting their “This Bud’s For You” campaign in which several different fun, lively social settings were shown with the beer as the focal point and the cause of everyone’s fun and the good times. However, in my opinion, this could lead to someone drinking when they should because maybe they want to fee included, want to feel like the people on the screen, want to taste the beer, etc., but really, this commercial and others of its kind can very well be promoting the opposite of this.
These are the pointers I used for my script:
- 29.5 million people in America are alcoholics, and more than 140,000 of those people die every year from alcohol use disorder — the medically correct term for alcoholism.
- I believe that the abuse of alcohol is fueled by commercials and advertising that promote it as being something more glamorous than it is.
- According to the Cornell Chronicle based on a study that was done to test the correlation between advertisements and drinking, “among drinkers, exposure to more ads correlated to consuming more drinks.”
- This is a scary and negative way that propaganda is used because these commercials and advertisements portray drinking as fun, social, and liberating, and rarely highlight the potential dangerous effects of alcohol and how it can lead to alcohol use disorder.
- This is especially important because in college, many students participate in binge drinking without considering the possible long-term consequences. The CDC reports that binge drinking is the most common and costly pattern of excessive alcohol use in the United States.” A lot of people who binge drink socially do not consider the fact that binge drinking and heavy alcohol use can increase an individual’s risk of alcohol use disorder.
- When we are constantly fed propaganda that promotes drinking and ignores the serious risks behind it, it can certainly lead to adverse effects. Yes, these companies need to promote their product as any company does — but what is the cost?
Works Cited
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, November 14). Binge drinking. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/binge-drinking.htm
- Dean, J., & May 18, 2020. (2020, May 18). Exposure to TV alcohol ads linked to drinking behavior. Cornell Chronicle. https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2020/05/exposure-tv-alcohol-ads-linked-drinking-behavior
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/
