Alcohol Consumption In America

Alcohol in America: The Campaign against Consumption Alcohol is just as-if not more-dangerous than cigarettes or illicit drugs, yet it is the most accepted of intoxicating substances. Although alcohol is largely responsible for a plethora of problems, the multitude of commercials aired by the alcohol industry continue to show the direct opposite. The excessive consumption of alcohol in the United States is out of control, although there is a rather simple solution. The damaging effects of alcohol consumption that plague American society can be repaired through better education on the risks of alcohol consumption through anti-drinking campaigns and through anti-drinking commercials.

Negative Effects of Alcohol Consumption The consumption of

The CDC’s report, “Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance-United States, 2015”, states that 63.2 percent of high school students surveyed had consumed alcohol at least once in their lifetime; 17.7 percent admitted to binge drinking within the thirty days before the survey. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration says: 15.4 percent of adults who first tried alcohol at or before age fourteen were classified with alcohol dependence or abuse, compared to the 3.8 percent of adults who were alcohol abusive or dependent had first used alcohol at age eighteen or older. Underage drinking is still a dangerous

The commercial uses a guise as a run-of-the-mill liquor commercial. Entitled “Smoothness”, the recurring theme of the commercial is how smooth the alcohol is, but how the effects of it-such as alcoholism, child abuse, and drunken violence-are much less smooth (IQInitiativet). The commercial’s success comes from its ‘plot twist’ in the middle and its use of such devastating facts about alcohol use. Even liquor companies have created anti-drunk driving commercials. Budweiser aired a commercial entitled “Friends are Waiting” in 2014 (Budweiser). This commercial uses the emotion we relate with dog ownership to connect with the audience and pulls at their heartstrings by telling how their pets would miss them if they got in a drunk driving accident. Budweiser’s ad is so successful due to its manipulation of the audience’s emotions. If more commercials educating the public on the dangers of alcohol consumption were to be aired, the number of drunk driving and other alcohol-related deaths would significantly decline. The common occurrence of excessive drinking and intoxicated driving are results of a population that does not comprehend the full amount of risk