Building a better mousetrap? analysis of one alcohol company's effort at a more restrictive voluntary advertising placement standard

Background: Numerous longitudinal studies find a relationship between youth exposure to alcohol advertising and youth drinking, making reducing exposure a public health priority. In 2008, Beam Inc. voluntarily implemented new advertising standards that stated that advertisements would only be placed in media where at least 75% of the audience is above the legal purchase age, and an average of 85% of annual aggregate impressions by medium by brand were to persons of legal purchasing age. Methods: Nielsen data were used for television and magazine advertisement placement and audience estimates between2008-2011. Performance against the 75% placement standard and the 85% annual aggregate composition was assessed for Beam brands in each media. The price impact of the new standards and growth in youth exposure to advertising for Beam brands relative to other distilled spirits brands was also assessed. Results: Beam did not meet its standards for placement on programs with at least 75% adult audience (8-22% of advertisements were on programs below this threshold). Beam came close to meeting its standard for the 85% aggregate composition. Results showed that the cost per thousand impressions decreased after the implementation of the new standard and in comparison to other distilled spirits brands. Conclusion: The data presented found that Beam Inc. did not consistently meet the 2008 voluntary standards. Though the findings were mixed, data suggests that the standard adopted by Beam Inc. has the potential to be feasible and cost saving, in addition to reducing negative consequences related to youth exposure to alcohol advertising.