Alcohol in the Media

The odd thing about alcohol in the media is that it tends to be fairly invisible. One gets so used to it, there’s so much of it, it is so pervasive and so deftly crafted into appealing messages that they almost go unnoticed.

One thing is for sure. The alcohol industries are using some of the best talent in the entertainment industry as their spokespersons. According to the website brandchannel.com, two Oscar-nominated film directors (David O. Russell and Darren Aronofsky) turned their talents to making commercials for Ketel One vodka. They join a long roster of musicians, actors and directors who have taken up promoting alcoholic beverages. Even Jennifer Anniston got into the act with a commercial for Heineken beer.

Some beer commercials in particular have been quickly absorbed into popular culture. For example, the Budweiser frogs of some years ago and then their ?Whassup?? commercials. Alcohol ads also piggyback on celebrities’ fame when well-known faces hawk Miller Lite or Suntory whiskey. Carlton beer in Australia, the Guinness brewery in Ireland, the Danish Carslberg beer, the list is endless—with the brands competing in the game of big production ads that often achieve in their own right.

Paid product placement is another means of selling alcohol, with brand-name beer, wine and hard liquor showing up in the hands of actors or in the background in television shows and Hollywood films.

Music Videos Provide New Venue for Alcohol Marketing Communications

Music videos are also used by the alcohol industry to promote their products. Some product placements are subtle, some are horrifically explicit, featuring unrestrained consumption of alcohol or drunken bodies draped across couches and on the floor. These music videos are blatantly pitched to young people who receive the alcohol message tied to the music every time they see the video.

Add to this billboards, in-store signage, magazine ads, low-flying planes towing signs over popular beaches and what you have is a continuous landscape of advertising for an addictive substance. In fact, alcohol is not just addictive—it is the world’s number one addictive substance.

World Health Organization Reports on Millions of Deaths Each Year from Alcohol

The number is 3.3 million deaths, worldwide, related to alcohol. And since the greatest demand for any drug is from the problem users, those who are abusing alcohol and those who are addicted to the substance run the greatest risk of loss of health or even their lives. Deaths result from a long list of types of injuries and illnesses: traffic accidents, falls, burns, drownings, alcohol poisoning, violence, cancers, cirrhosis of the liver, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and many other similar causes.

Alcohol Rehab Provides the Answer

When a person has lost the ability to control their drinking, especially when they see the harm being done to their life, they need professional help to quit and get that life back on track. This is when an alcohol recovery program can mean the difference between life and death.

The residential alcohol recovery program offered by Narconon first removes the person from access to alcohol. Heavy alcohol consumption causes a person’s body to deteriorate and the road to full recovery may require withdrawal, detoxification and exact nutritional support to rebuild the body. At Narconon, these program steps are followed by life skills training, a significant component of maintaining an alcohol-free life.

Contact Narconon today to find out how this program can help someone you love.