CAMY: Fewer Alcohol Ads are Always Still Too Many Alcohol Ads
The Center for Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) is an alcohol
industry watchdog group set up and funded by the anti-alcohol Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation and Pew Charitable Trust. In its own words,
CAMY seeks to create “public outrage” against alcohol
ads. 1
In the words of The Wall Street Journal, the Center on
Alcohol Marketing and Youth is an “anti-alcohol group that
has launched a ‘crusade’ against alcohol advertising.”
Recently alcohol beverage producers voluntarily tightened their
restrictions on advertising by restricting the proportion of people
ages 12-20 who could be exposed to any of their alcohol ads on radio,
television or in publications from 50% to 30%. That’s a reduction
of nearly half.
However, CAMY isn’t satisfied. The anti-alcohol ad group
is now calling for alcohol producers to further reduce, this time
by a full half, the proportion of such people who can see or hear
any alcohol ad in any of the mass media. 2
However, the Federal Trade Commission rejected CAMY’s earlier
request for the same 15% cap, finding that it would be unduly restrictive.
3
CAMY repeatedly issues reports asserting that young people under
the age of 21 are “overexposed” to alcohol beverage
ads. 4
It submitted one such report to the Federal Trade Commission, arguing
that underage drinkers are targeted by alcohol ads. In its investigation
of alcohol marketing and youth, the FTC emphasized that “CAMY’s
data confirm, however, that adults are in fact the primary audience
for alcohol advertising.” 5
The FTC also investigated CAMY’s statistics suggesting that
Hispanic youth hear more alcohol ads on radio than do Hispanic adults.
6
However, after analyzing CAMY’s numbers, the government agency
found that they actually demonstrate that Hispanic adults of legal
drinking age actually hear over 20 times more alcohol ads on radio
than do those who are underage. 7
Incredibly, CAMY wants us to believe that Hispanic youth hear more
alcohol ads on radio than do Hispanics adults when their own data
actually show that adults actually hear 20 alcohol ads for each
one heard by someone under the legal drinking age!
CAMY repeatedly insists that underage drinkers are targeted by
alcohol ads. 8
However, the FTC has recently completed two exhaustive studies,
including analyses of internal company documents on product development,
marketing strategies, advertising strategies, and many other matters.
It found no evidence of either the intent to target minors or of
any targeting minors by alcohol producers. 9
In one of the FTC investigations of alleged targeting of youth
in alcohol marketing, the Commission reviewed the consumer survey
data submitted by CAMY. However, the Commission concluded that “flaws
in the survey's methodology limit the ability to draw conclusions
from the survey data” collected by CAMY. 10
The FTC’s description of CAMY’s research “flaws”
is an understatement. In a footnote (#19), the Commission observed
that CAMY’s systematic use of different questions for those
above and below age 21 almost certainly biased the results and were
inappropriate. In plain language, the CAMY “research”
was deceptive junk science designed to mislead the Commission. It
was so defective that it apparently could not legally be used by
the FTC. 11
In reality, allegations of targeting and overexposure of minors
is irrelevant. That’s because research conducted around the
world for decades by governments, health agencies and universities
has found that alcohol ads do not cause non-drinkers to become drinkers.
Alcohol producers advertise because, if successful, they can increase
market share. They do so at the expense of their less successful
competitors, who lose market share.12
But the facts don’t matter. The Center on Alcohol Marketing
and Youth was created to create ‘public outrage” against
alcohol ads regardless of the evidence. The belief seems to be that
the end justifies the means.
The FTC has repeatedly found that CAMY’s numbers don’t
demonstrate what CAMY says they do. Perhaps CAMY is simply a "statistically-impaired
neo-prohibitionist organization" as one observer contends.
13
On the other hand, it’s been reported that CAMY “goes
through enormous contortions to make provocative statements”
14
and it has perpetrated “bogus studies on alcohol marketing.”
15
Not surprisingly, an editor has asserted that "CAMY's calculations
dissolve into banality upon close inspection" and its work
"will outrage anyone who values intellectual honesty."
16
Dan Jaffe, executive VP for the Association of National Advertisers,
says that CAMY doesn’t want any alcohol ads at all so the
group keeps calling for ever more restrictions. He believes that
regardless of how successful they may be in reducing and restricting
alcohol ads “they will not be satisfied.” 17
CAMY’s behavior suggests that Mr. Jaffe is entirely correct
about the temperance group.
References
- 1. The Center on Alcohol
Marketing and Youth. Out of Control: Alcohol Advertising Taking
Aim at America's Youth - A Report on Alcohol Advertising in Magazines.
Washington, DC: The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, 2002.
- 2. Center on Alcohol Marketing
and Youth. Reducing alcohol ads kids see won’t cost industry
adult market. Washington, DC: Center on Alcohol marketing and Youth,
press release, July 5, 2005.
- 3. Teinowitz, Ira. Consumer
group calls for tighter alcohol ad standards: Wants industry cap
of 70% adult makeup in media raised to 85%. AdAge, July
6, 2005.
- 4. See, for example, Center
on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. Exposure of African-American
Youth to Alcohol Advertising. Washington, DC: Center on Alcohol
Marketing and Youth, 2003; Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth.
Exposure of Hispanic Youth to Alcohol Advertising. Washington,
DC: Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, 2003; Center on Alcohol
Marketing and Youth. Radio Daze: Alcohol Ads Tune in Underage
Youth. Washington, DC: Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth,
2003; Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. Out of Control:
Alcohol Advertising Taking Aim at America’s Youth. Washington,
DC: Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, 2002; Center on Alcohol
Marketing and Youth. Television: Alcohol‘s Vast Adland.
Washington, DC: Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, 2002; Center
on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. Overexposed: Youth as a Target
of Alcohol Advertising in Magazines. Washington, DC: Center
on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, 2002.
- 5. Federal Trade Commission.
Alcohol Marketing and Advertising: A Report to Congress.
Washington, DC: Federal Trade Commission, 2003.
- 6. Center on Alcohol Marketing
and Youth. Exposure of Hispanic Youth to Alcohol Advertising.
Washington, DC: Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, 2003
- 7. Federal Trade Commission.
Alcohol Marketing and Advertising: A Report to Congress.
Washington, DC: Federal Trade Commission, 2003.
- 8. Center on Alcohol Marketing
and Youth. Out of Control: Alcohol Advertising Taking Aim at
America’s Youth. Washington, DC: Center on Alcohol Marketing
and Youth, 2002; Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. Overexposed:
Youth as a Target of Alcohol Advertising in Magazines. Washington,
DC: Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, 2002.
- 9. Letter from J. Howard
Beales (Director, Bureau of Consumer Affairs, U.S. Federal Trade
Commission) to George Hacker (Director, Alcohol Policies Project,
Center for Science in the Public Interest) dated June 3, 2002;Bloomberg
News, FTC Says Alcohol Type Not Aimed at Minors. Los Angeles
Times (June 5, 2002); Melillo, W. FTC: Ads for "Alcopops"
Not Aimed at Teens, Adweek (June 6, 2002); Federal Trade
Commission. Alcohol Marketing and Advertising: A Report to Congress.
Washington, DC: Federal Trade Commission, 2003.
- 10. Federal Trade Commission.
Alcohol Marketing and Advertising: A Report to Congress.
Washington, DC: Federal Trade Commission, 2003.
- 11. Federal Trade Commission.
Alcohol Marketing and Advertising: A Report to Congress.
Washington, DC: Federal Trade Commission, 2003.
- 12. See, for example,
Alcohol Advertising (https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/effects-of-alcohol-advertising-on-drinking/
)
- 13. Center for Consumer
Freedom. A Trifecta of Bogus Studies on Alcohol Marketing. www.consumerfreedom.com,
April 3, 2003.
- 14. Treinowitz, T. Study:
Hispanic youth "overexposed" to alcohol ads. AdAge.com.
May 1, 2003.
- 15. Center for Consumer
Freedom. A Trifecta of Bogus Studies on Alcohol Marketing. www.consumerfreedom.com,
April 3, 2003.
- 16. Sullum, Jacob. The
booze tube: Must teenagers be shielded from beer commercials? Reason
Magazine, www.reason.com, December 20, 2002.
- 17. Eggerton, John. CAMY
calls for tighter alcohol ad standards: Want industry cap of 70%
adult makeup in media raised to 85%. AdAge, July 6, 2005.
Readings
- Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. Out of Control: Alcohol
Advertising Taking Aim at America’s Youth. Washington,
DC: Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, 2002.
- Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. Television: Alcohol's
Vast Adland. Washington, DC: Center on Alcohol Marketing and
Youth, 2002.
- Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. Overexposed: Youth as
a Target of Alcohol Advertising in Magazines. Washington, DC:
Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, 2002.
- Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. Radio Daze: Alcohol
Ads Tune in Underage Youth. Washington, DC: Center on Alcohol
Marketing and Youth, 2003.
- Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. Exposure of African-American
Youth to Alcohol Advertising. Washington, DC: Center on Alcohol
Marketing and Youth, 2003.
- Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. Exposure of Hispanic
Youth to Alcohol Advertising. Washington, DC: Center on Alcohol
Marketing and Youth, 2003.
- Connolly, G. M., et al. Alcohol in the mass media and
drinking by adolescents: A longitudinal study. Addiction,
1994, 89, 1255-1263.
- Fisher, J. C. Advertising, Alcohol Consumption, and Abuse:
A Worldwide Survey. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood, 1993.
- Sullum, J. The booze tube: Must teenagers be shielded from beer
commercials? Reasononline, December 20, 2002 (http://reason.com/links/links122022.shtml).