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Nike's advertisement showcased the importance of diversity in our community, and how involving people of color brings communities together and shines a light on our current racial problems. However, one question sticks out; Is any of this ethical? The BBC article titled “Black Lives Matter: Do Companies Support the Cause?” discusses the rise of brand activism following the killing of George Floyd, with companies showing support for the BLM movement. However, there is skepticism surrounding these actions, as some companies are accused of hypocrisy for not reflecting diversity in their workplace. This article states “While many businesses have been quick to adopt the movement's hashtag, they don’t appear to show the same enthusiasm in their boardrooms.” Companies advertise for the sole purpose of profit. They try to get their brand out to as many people as possible and being “involved” with movements like this puts the majority of the spotlight on these companies. Although it may not be ethically sound, companies stand to gain from falsely claiming support for causes they promote, even if they are hypocritical in their actions.

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The MST Services article “Effects of Drug and Alcohol Advertising on Teens” talks about how companies spend billions of dollars on ads for tobacco and alcohol. These advertisements often depict smokers and drinkers as young, attractive, and successful contributing to a romanticized view of substances amongst teens. Regulations on tobacco advertising have been implemented over the years, however, the influence of media on teen substance use persists, fueled by the expansion of alcohol advertising and continued exposure to idealized images of these substances. Underage alcohol and tobacco use lead to serious health risks, emphasizing the need for efforts to discourage exposure to misleading media.

This article also states that TV shows, movies, and music videos also play a role in normalizing smoking and drinking, with scenes depicting these behaviors as common and even desirable. MST Services states “ A study conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics showed that 19% of primetime television shows portray tobacco use, and just one-quarter of those shows make negative statements about smoking.” This shows the impact of entertainment media on this topic and how much influence they have on the younger generation. The article also mentions that “Smoking is also found in about 25 percent of all music videos, 25 percent of ads for R-rated movies, and just under 10 percent of ads for PG-13 movies. Though these rates seem relatively high, smoking has decreased in popular movies in recent years.” This shows that the media has improved over time with this problem, which is still extremely prevalent today.

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There are many factors that can affect a teenager's decision to smoke or drink alcohol. In the last few decades, however, the rapid growth of advertising and consumerism has begun to have an enormous influence on teens.

Each year in the United States, companies spend billions of dollars advertising alcohol and tobacco products, while popular television shows and movies often depict smoking and drinking in a positive light. Studies show that young people are often inclined to use drugs or alcohol themselves due to these influential depictions of substance use.

Advertising Sells Teens on Nicotine & Alcohol

Companies across the U.S. spend roughly $25 billion every year on advertisements for tobacco products such as vape pens and cigarettes, and alcohol. These ads are specifically crafted to gain the attention of teens through the use of celebrities, humor, current music, and attractive young models. These ads make smoking and drinking seem like casual everyday activities, and can function as a "superpeer" by subtly pressuring teens to consume their products. Research on the effects of advertising has shown that they may be responsible for up to 30% of underage tobacco and alcohol use.

The biggest spender of advertising dollars is the tobacco industry, often referred to as "Big Tobacco," which accounts for about $15 billion. For decades, these companies have successfully targeted teenagers with their ads. They recruit smokers before they realize the full health implications of tobacco use. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, advertising often seeks to glamorize smoking by "depicting smokers as young, independent, rebellious, healthy, and adventurous." These ads are careful to never show the negative consequences of smoking, which have been long-documented by the medical community for decades. While many restrictions have been placed on cigarette advertising by the federal government in recent years, ads are still very prevalent in digital forms and magazines.

Similar to tobacco advertising, alcohol commercials are often crafted to appeal to underage users. These ads frequently depict drinkers as laid-back, attractive, successful young people having fun in glamorous social situations. And unlike tobacco advertising, alcohol advertising faces few restrictions from the government, meaning that these ads are still very prominent on television. It has been estimated that teens see anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 alcohol ads on television each year. Alcohol-related ads are often aired during primetime television shows, therefore teens are 400 times more likely to see an ad for alcohol than a PSA that discourages underage drinking.

Substance Use in Television and Movies

Scenes with characters smoking remain relatively common in movies and, to a lesser extent, on primetime television, as it is popular in both television and movies to use smoking to indicate a character is troubled or rebellious. A study conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics showed that 19% of primetime television shows portray tobacco use, and just one-quarter of those shows make negative statements about smoking. Smoking is also found in about 25 percent of all music videos, 25 percent of ads for R-rated movies, and just under 10 percent of ads for PG-13 movies. Though these rates seem relatively high, smoking has actually decreased in popular movies in recent years. A content analysis of the top 100 box-office hits between 1996 and 2004 revealed that tobacco use was depicted in 90 percent of R-rated movies, and half of all G-rated animated films between 1937 and 1997.

Between 1991 and 2009, analysis shows that tobacco use in film peaked in 2003 and has since declined, with less than 50 percent of R-rated films depicting smoking for the first time in 2009.

Alcohol's Popularity On Television

Of all of the drugs portrayed in film and television, alcohol remains far and above the most prevalent. On average, a drinking scene is shown every 22 minutes on American television. For primetime shows, the rate is even higher. 70 percent of these shows depict alcohol use. In the film, alcohol use is shown in movies from PG to R-rated, and most often these scenes are depicted as normative behavior, which has been shown to have a negative effect on teens. A study conducted in California by Columbia University found correlations between exposure to drinking scenes and teen alcohol consumption. Teenagers who were allowed to watch more than three R-rated films per month were found to be five times more likely to drink alcohol compared with teenagers who watched none. An additional study was also done on two- to six-year-olds, who were asked to role-play shopping at a grocery store. Children who were allowed to watch PG-13 or R-rated movies were five times more likely to "buy" beer or wine as a part of their imaginary shopping experience.

Years of Fighting, Little Progress

The battle to keep teens and adolescents from turning to drugs and alcohol has been going on for decades. Still, teenagers continue to use tobacco and alcohol. The contribution of the media to teen substance use has been a growing concern for many years but is only recently beginning to be fully recognized for the problem that it is. While regulations put forth by the U.S. government have significantly restricted tobacco advertising on television, other avenues have guaranteed that teens are still exposed to a romanticized vision of smoking and smokers. And because alcohol companies have not been subjected to the same regulations, their advertising has only expanded. This has exposed teens to a bombardment of misinformation.

Underage alcohol and tobacco use pose an extreme threat to the teenagers who use them, as both can lead to lifelong addictions and a myriad of health problems. Years of research have shown that the entertainment and media industries encourage teen use by showing idealized images of tobacco and alcohol use. The best way to discourage this exposure is to take action to motivate and assist parents to restrict their children's access to inappropriate media venues.

Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is an evidence-based program for at-risk youth and families. MST utilizes a built-in suite of services within the home, school, and community settings. Services include but are not limited to: social skills training, drug and alcohol intervention, mental health services, and peer management.

If you know of someone that would benefit from MST or you would like to start an MST program in your area, please click h e re.

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Effects of Drug and Alcohol Advertising on Teens

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Does the rapid growth of nicotine and alcohol advertising have an effect on teens?

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This ad from Marlboro in 1963 is a significant moment in the history of advertising, playing a big role in the transformation of Marlboro cigarettes from a small and niche product to globally recognized cigarettes. This ad starts with a masculine cowboy piloting a plane with a woman passenger who lights up a Marlboro cigarette in their plane and passes it onto the cowboy pilot. The ad transitions to a cowboy in the wilderness riding a horse. The ad effectively portrays Marlboro as a brand directly connected to masculinity and with “being a man”, independence, freedom, and strength. The ad also depicts how Malboro grew as a company from a small cigarette company underdog to a world wide known cigarette company. By watching this video, the viewer is shown that men and women love Malboro and they stand for freedom, masculinity, and strength. It seems like Malboro was coming back from some sort of dip in sales for some reason. Similar to what happened to Bud light in 2023 where they associated with a trans person and lost lots of customers but then came back this year with a very masculine ad with men and horses. Sounds like an ongoing theme.

This ad changed tobacco marketing by appealing to consumers' beliefs for freedom, adventure and masculinity. Marlboro associated itself with the rugged image of the cowboy, to show the American ideal of a “man” who has strength, power, control, and freedom which at the time was very popular and sought after. As the video shows the man piloting the plane, it means that this man has control like a man should. It also symbolizes freedom, just like a bald eagle soaring through the American skies. If you know anything about advertisement history you would know that this ad of The Marlboro Man became an enduring symbol of American man culture, embodying the masculine individualism and perseverance of the United States freedom. Through strategic advertising campaigns like the 1968 Marlboro Man ad, Marlboro cigarettes gave advertisement history and culture a new perspective.

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This ad by bud light featuring Post Malone (Austin Post) directs sales towards their new product bud light seltzer. In the ad Austin Post also known as Post Malone who was one of the most popular pop artists at the time and still is today walks through the doors of a gas station convenience store looking for specifically bud light. Post is known for drinking bud light and loving beer so this was no surprise that Post was intrigued to see that Bud light came out with a new product. This is when Bud light implements their advertising strategy which is mentioned in the title of “Inside Post’s Brain” where the viewer of the video is taken inside of Post’s brain where there are groups of people controlling different parts of his functions related to consuming beverages. The main message bud light was trying to give others is to try out their new seltzer and keep buying their new one. Dud light featured one if not the most popular music artist at the time, this is a crucial step that all companies do to gain the most amount of traffic and business to their company. By aligning their brand with a figure as culturally relevant and influential as Post Malone, Bud Light effectively taps into his massive fan base and social media following, extending the reach of their advertising campaign to a wider audience. They do this because when people see these famous actors or music artists it makes a subconscious action telling them that if it's good enough for them it's definitely good enough for me. Also some people just like to follow what popular people do and try to be like them. Another aspect that bud light controls is humor and entertainment. The ad is very humorous, involving clumsy and chaotic humor to catch attention to the viewers.

As the viewer watches the ad it takes them into a 1st person view of Post trying the new drink. Once Post takes the sip the viewer gets taken into his taste buds and the ad shows a group of men who are soaked in liquid which is assumed to be the liquid that Post consumed, these men are depicted to be military men in a training called “Buds” which often involves long periods of wet and cold environments. This is why they are called “Taste buds”. I don't think this matters much about the ad and selling much but it does show the humor and the people that bud light is trying to target. Men who have been through the military or who are planning on it, this little type of humor that targets an audience makes it personal to that viewer. The ad continues and reaches a part of contradiction where two captains of Post’s mind are competing on what Bud Light he buys, the seltzer or the regular beer, then as the two captains control post’s body, they make him stumble and fall all over the store, making a big mess and destroying most of the isles and most of the products end up on the floor. Then a side worker says “Guys, guys, we're incredibly rich. Lets get both” Then the captains calm down and get both. This tells the viewer not to worry about which bud light to get when you can just get both. Throughout this ad bud light adds lots of mental twists and tricks to convince the viewer to buy their product, as well as lots of hidden humor and chaos to connect to certain people.

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Bud Light: Post Malone #PostyBar Inside Post's Brain

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This print advertisement promotes the effects and negative sides of smoking. This image does this by representing our lungs as the earth's atmosphere and perfectly reflects how smoking affects our bodies. The text shown in this advertisement, stating “Stop burning our lives” promotes the fact that smoking cigarettes is extremely unhealthy for us, and is targeted to people who do smoke cigarettes, and(sometimes) for those who want to quit. Over the years, pro-smoking and vaping advertisements have been limited due to laws and regulations that are in place today.

Early advertisements promote the use of these products since at one point in time, doctors believed cigarettes helped people. In the mid to late 20th century, although it was found out at this time that smoking cigarettes were extremely unhealthy, advertisements then were still promoting these products concerning good memories, success, and attractiveness. This ultimately caused many people, underaged teens, to start smoking. Tobacco companies do this to sell their product to as many people as possible, trying to shine a positive light on smoking cigarettes. This ultimately had a bad influence on younger people at the time, which is why laws and regulations eventually made it illegal to promote the use of these products. Although we are heading in a better direction, these companies and advertisements that took place in the 1900s still affect the youth with these substances today.

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Ryan Lim

Ms Paris

3/13/25

Midterm Advertising Essay

Tobacco and alcohol share many similarities while having their differences. Today, I researched their advertisements and how they were used to sell to the general public. First, tobacco advertisements. These ads did not last long until President Richard Nixon banned all cigarette ads. This meant that all of the hard work that Marlboro put into their advertisements and what they stood for was washed away, and their sales plummeted as a result. While they were alive, Marlboro was one of the greatest advertisers, starting with the Marlboro Man, who symbolized a strong, masculine man who smoked Marlboro cigarettes. This showed the viewer what Marlboro stood for and played into the subconscious of the viewer's mind. At the time of these ads, men were expected to grow up to be strong, assert dominance, and live life freely, so this is what Marlboro focused on. Through Marlboro's years of making advertisements, they went through many different stages, starting with targeting women, then moving to their filtered cigarettes, and finally, the Marlboro Man. They always found new ways to target a specific audience and further refine their image.

Second is alcohol. Alcohol still has many advertisements today since there are no regulatory bans on them in the United States; they are more tailored towards modern times and people. This is evident in Bud Light's many commercials featuring Post Malone, one of the largest pop artists right now. Doing so brings in new and younger customers who like to follow trends and their idols. Bud Light also implements subconscious thoughts through their visuals, like first-person views and decision-making scripts, making it easier for the viewer of the ad to relate. Another aspect of the advertisement that Bud Light incorporates is humor and chaos, which is linked with the side effects of drinking. It's similar to what may happen to you when you drink and may be a reason people do it in the first place. Implementing this into their advertisements triggers some people and pushes them to seek out what they have had before and remember the fun they had.

The similarities are clear, even though these two advertisements are different in age, they share the same tactics. They both have models to give the viewer someone to look up to, who are both men, target fixating on a specific group of people who are men. According to Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, 1.46 billion males consumed alcohol and 0.88 billion females in 2016. This clearly shows that they tailor their ads accordingly. It is also known that men drink more often and heavier than women. It is a sort of macho and manly tradition, especially in college where boys show off how much they can drink.

These companies are successful in what they do because of how much they spend on their ads. If they were not making any money on it, then they wouldn't make them. This is evident with all cigarette companies before and after the ban on their ads. When this happened, their sales dropped significantly. With this being said, these two consumable products both have something holding them back: the safety and health of human beings. Lung cancer, drunk driving death rates, both carcinogens, and both hurt the health of human beings and all animals living. With more statistics coming out about people dying for many different reasons caused by these two consumable products, the audience dwindles. Not to mention the increasing number of advertisements against drinking and smoking because of the negative side effects that come from it. But there is always one thing that these two products obtain and will never lose grip of: addiction.

White, A. M. (2020). Gender differences in the epidemiology of alcohol use and related harms in the United States. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. https://arcr.niaaa.nih.gov/volume/40/2/gender-differences-epidemiology-alcohol-use-and-related-harms-united-states

YouTube. (2022, June 30). How Marlboro became the #1 Cigarette Brand. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv85GrGqj94

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The World of Advertising

My findings throughout this project brought a lot of things to light and explained why companies are so successful in their field. What I've come to understand is that companies are willing to go to great lengths to secure sales, regardless of whether it has a negative impact. With Nike's advertisement raising ethical questions about promoting racial equality for sales, to tobacco and alcohol companies abusing the youth, research, and news articles have proven over and over again that the company's number 1 priority is sales.

Nike's “Equality” commercial is a commercial that promotes equality amongst people of color. This commercial has many elements that inspire people and in the commercial, we can see that everyone is involved and that we as people are a community. But what is Nike exactly doing to support this cause? According to the BBC article, it mentions that while many businesses have been quick to adopt the movement's hashtag, they don’t appear to show the same enthusiasm in their boardrooms (Duarte, 2020). Nike faced criticism for not significantly supporting communities of color after their commercial, and public records revealed that only 10% of their workforce was black, sparking backlash. This highlights that a company's public image and its actions may not always align, as advertisements are crafted to attract consumers and generate profit.

This isn't the only way companies generate profit not ethically. Tobacco and alcohol companies are sneaky with the way they advertise their products. In the early 20th century cigarettes were prescribed to individuals by doctors because it was thought that smoking cigarettes were healthy. After a few decades, however, scientists have discovered that smoking was the complete opposite and that it was extremely harmful to individuals. However, this never stopped tobacco companies from advertising. Tobacco advertisements target a specific group of people; teenagers. They do this by having this ideology that people who smoke are young, attractive, and successful. This type of advertising bled into alcohol advertisements, and over the years it has become more prominent that this is a major problem. A study conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics showed that 19% of primetime television shows portray tobacco use, and just one-quarter of those shows make negative statements about smoking (MT Services, 2020). Even though tobacco commercials for pro-tobacco use have been regulated by laws and legislation, alcohol commercials still follow this same path, encouraging younger individuals to give in to horrible adult habits.

Companies will do anything to get sales where it's most effective. We've observed that major corporations like Nike primarily advertise to drive sales and garner attention, even if the message doesn't perfectly reflect their actual practices or values. Tobacco and alcohol companies encourage substance use among young people since they are the most susceptible, and these companies don't care about anyone's physical and mental well-being, they just want to make a profit. Most companies will find a way to execute sales where it's most effective, whether it's ethical or not.

Duarte, F. (2022, February 25). Black lives matter: DO companies really support the cause?. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200612-black-lives-matter-do-companies-really-support-the-cause

Services, M. (2020, February 19). Effects of drug and alcohol advertising on teens. Juvenile Justice Reform Blog. https://info.mstservices.com/blog/drug-alcohol-teens-advertising#:~:text=Research%20on%20the%20effects%20of,accounts%20for%20about%20%2415%20billion.