A new study released today by The Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine states a greater percentage of girls 12 to 20 see alchohol ads than do women over 21 and women 21 to 34. The study also cites teenage drinking has increased especially among girls and draws correlations between this increase and the increase in alchohol ads seen by girls.
One has to hope this increase in reach to teenagers is unintentional. It’s certainly possible this is the case with the “read-up” behavior among teens consuming media targeted for age groups older than their own. On the other hand, it wouldn’t be out of the question for brewers and distillers to try and grab mindshare as early as possible hoping teenagers will gravitate to their brand once they reach legal age. Either way, more teenagers are getting drunk than ever before.
