Alcohol AdvertisingExposure to alcohol advertising is an everyday occurrence. Alcohol advertising is persuasive not only to adults but also to those who are too young to purchase it legally. While parents and peers have a large impact on young people's drinking decisions, marketing also has a significant impact by influencing the attitudes of parents and peers and helping to create an environment that promotes underage drinking. Alcohol companies invest billions of dollars in advertising their products and continue to claim that the effect is minimal. I ask some questions which are; What are the targets of alcohol advertising? How does alcohol advertising affect the people targeted by alcohol companies? Finally, what actions are being taken to prevent the encouragement of underage drinking or other alcohol-related tragedies? Alcohol is the most commonly used drug in the United States. It is also one of the most advertised products in the United States. Alcohol companies generate more than $65 billion a year in revenue and spend more than $1 billion a year on advertising. Unfortunately, young people and heavy drinkers are the main targets of advertisers. Research indicates that advertising contributes to increased youth alcohol consumption and serves as a source of negative socialization for youth. Many of those who argue that peer pressure to drink is the primary influence on young people severely overlook the role of advertising. About a third of Americans chose not to drink at all, another third to drink moderately, and the final third to drink regularly. 10% of the drinking age population consumes 60% of alcohol, which means that 40% of alcohol consumed today is made up of... paper tragedies... such as suicide, murder, and accidents , continue to grow. Despite numerous efforts by people across the United States to reduce these risk factors such as MADD and counter-advertising, the simple and constant fact of the matter is that until alcohol companies completely stop youth-targeted advertising and attractive to all, the United States will continue to suffer tragedies. Work Cited Targets of Alcohol Advertising (http://www.health20-20.org/targets_of_alcohol_advertising.html) Center on Alcohol Advertising (http://www.tf.org/tf/alcohol2.html) Alcohol advertising and young people ( http://camy.org/factsheets/index.php?FactsheetID=1)MADD Online: Alcohol Advertising (http://www.mad.org/stats/0,1056,177,00.html )Alcohol Advertising (http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol-info/Advertising.html)