Alcohol Ads

According to the article “Outdoor Alcohol Ads Boost Kids' Urge To Drink” in ScienceDaily, outdoor ads prompt adolescents to drink alcohol and make them think positively about alcohol consumption. University of Florida and University of Minnesota conducted the study by counting the number of outdoor ads that advertised alcohol products near 63 Chicago schools and interviewing students about their opinions of alcohol products. After exploring different types of ads, researchers counted 931 alcohol ads around the schools. The students who saw more alcohol advertising near their schools had more positive views about drinking and had no doubts for not drinking. (“Outdoor Alcohol Ads Boost Kids' Urge To Drink”)
Advertisers usually claim that alcohol ads may only influence people who already have some experience with drinking and cannot affect non-drinking child’s behavior towards alcohol consumption. However, UF epidemiologist Kelli A. Komro said "Among those kids who were not drinking, we still found the association between exposure to the outdoor ads and increased intentions to use alcohol. The ads are working even for the kids who are not drinking." (“Outdoor Alcohol Ads Boost Kids' Urge To Drink”) From this study, we can already see that advertising is very powerful tool that influences children’s behaviors and changes their perceptions about the world around them. So with the purpose to protect our children, government and society should ban such advertising, at least near places that are most visited by children such as school areas.