Indicator Description
Alcohol advertising exposes young people to alcohol messages. Research has shown that long-term exposure to advertising and promotional activities increases the likelihood that children will drink. First document any restrictions on alcohol advertising, including any policies that limit advertising of alcoholic beverages. These restrictions may be in the form of a local ordinance or state law, or may be voluntarily implemented by a business, event, or organization.

What to Measure

• Monitor any violations of local ordinances on alcohol advertising.
• Record other places advertising is permitted, such as on public transportation, at community events, and near schools.
• Measure alcoholic beverage advertising expenditures.

Where to Find Local Data

• Call your Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) state agency for information on local ordinances, violations, and alcoholic beverage advertising expenditures.
• State Alcohol Advertising Laws: Current Status and Model Policies from the Center for Alcohol Marketing and Youth provides information on each state's current laws.
• Use observational data collection to count the number of alcohol billboards and other prominent advertising in the community.

Interpretation Guidelines

• Changes in the amount of advertising can help assess how successful a community has been in reducing youth exposure to alcohol.
• Recording and documenting alcohol advertisements in your community can help to enforce local ordinances on advertising. This information can also be used to increase the public's willingness to support advertising restrictions in the community.

Related Stories

Milwaukee Fighting Back's Erase and Replace Campaign successfully reduced the number of billboards and signs advertising alcohol in the community.

The campaign pressured billboard companies to abide by voluntary advertising guidelines by threatening to advocate for policies that would ban all billboards in the area. Companies complied with voluntary guidelines by agreeing to limit alcohol and tobacco advertising on billboards in Milwaukee County.

Resources

Sample Billboard Survey Form, Face Project, Alcohol Billboard Community Action Kit, May 2003.

Hackbarth, D, et al. "Collaborative Research and Action to Control the Geographic Placement of Outdoor Advertising of Alcohol and Tobacco Products in Chicago." Public Health Reports, 116: 558-567, 2001.