|
 |
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
© 2007 American Public Health Association
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2006.102566
LETTER |
Elizabeth G. Klein and Rhonda J. Jones-Webb are with the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Elizabeth Klein, University of Minnesota, School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology, 1300 S Second Street, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55454-1015 (e-mail: klein_l{at}epi.umn.edu).
Zwarun1 provided additional evidence for the presence of alcohol and tobacco advertising during televised sporting events. Her follow-up to Madden and Grube’s2 analysis of alcohol and tobacco advertising in televised sports demonstrates that although certain types of advertisements have decreased, the alcohol and tobacco industries have adapted to advertising restrictions such as those included in the Master Settlement Agreement, the massive lawsuit between state attorneys general and the tobacco industry.
However, we believe Zwarun did not take her recommendations far enough. Although the article mentions the importance of the Master Settlement Agreement in reducing the frequency and type of ads, the author did not suggest specific policy changes that are needed to limit alcohol and tobacco marketing in televised sports. It has been estimated that youths make up 13% of the national television viewing audience for all types of programming,3 and most youths report watching sporting events on television.4 Numerous studies have provided evidence for a connection between tobacco and alcohol advertising during sporting events and use of those products.5,6
On the basis of the growing evidence for the relationship between tobacco and alcohol advertising and youth consumption of these products, we suggest that a shift is needed to focus on policy change. The surgeon general and others have described the connection between policy and behavior change and recommend policies as a behavior change strategy.7–9 International tobacco marketing standards stipulate that tobacco ads should not "be of particular appeal to youth" or be shown at events with more than 25% young viewers10; the alcohol industry marketing code11 prohibits ads intended to appeal to youths.
Implementation of policies to further restrict alcohol and tobacco advertising in televised sports will be challenging; therefore, it will be important for alcohol and tobacco researchers and policy advocates to work collaboratively. For example, efforts could jointly focus on developing policy to prohibit sports sponsorships for alcohol and tobacco products during televised sporting events with a youth audience of 15% or higher, a more specific and stringent standard for both industries. By working together on policy change, we believe that more substantive change can occur to prevent or reduce underage use of tobacco and alcohol. As clearly illustrated by Zwarun, the problem of alcohol and tobacco advertising in televised sports has been well described. We are overdue to move to the next step and devise effective population-level solutions to youths’ exposure to tobacco and alcohol advertising.
References
1. Zwarun L. Ten years and 1 master settlement agreement later: the nature and frequency of alcohol and tobacco promotion in televised sports, 2000 through 2002. Am J Public Health. 2006;96: 1492–1497.
2. Madden PA, Grube JW. The frequency and nature of alcohol and tobacco advertising in televised sports, 1990–1992. Am J Public Health. 1994;8:297–299.
3. Grover PL, ed. Reducing Tobacco Use Among Youth: Community-Based Approaches. Rockville, Md: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; 1997.
4. Paul P. Good sports. Am Demogr. 2001;23(10): 16–18.
5. Ellickson P, Collins RL, Hambarsoomians K, Mc-Caffrey DF. Does alcohol advertising promote adolescent drinking? results from a longitudinal assessment [published correction appears in Addiction. 2005; 100:1201]. Addiction. 2005;100:235–246.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]
6. Siegel M. Counteracting tobacco motor sports sponsorship as a promotional tool: is the tobacco settlement enough? Am J Public Health. 2001;91: 1100–1106.[Abstract]
7. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, Ga: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2004.
8. Hammond D, Fong GT, McDonald PW, Cameron R, Brown KS. Impact of the graphic Canadian warning labels on adult smoking behaviour. Tob Control. 2003; 2:391–395.
9. Wagenaar AC, Toomey TL. Effects of minimum drinking age laws: review and analyses of the literature from 1960 to 2000. J Stud Alcohol Suppl. 2002; Mar(14): 206–225.
10. Herzog B, Belpedio H. "International tobacco marketing standards." New York, NY: Credit Suisse First Boston; 2001. Available at: http://www.ash.org.uk/html/advspo/pdfs/csfb.pdf. Accessed November 2, 2006.
11. Code of Responsible Practices for Beverage Alcohol Advertising and Marketing. Washington, DC: Distilled Spirits Council of the United States; 2003. Available at: http://www.discus.org/responsibility/code.asp. Accessed November 2, 2006.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |