A study conducted by Georgetown’s Center on Alcohol and arketing Youth found that approximately 700,000 visits to alcohol company Web sites in the second half of 2003 were by underage youth, despite alcohol industry marketing rules that promised to provide access only to legal-age adults.
The study also identified contributing factors to the prevalence of underage usage of alcohol sites, such as ineffective software blocks designed to prevent underage access, and interactive music, game and youth-centered features focused on marketing alcohol.
The study’s findings mirror the results of their previous report, which found that more than 25 percent of radio ads for alcohol during the last summer would have violated the alcohol industry’s revised marketing codes announced in September 2003.
The latest CAMY report also found that the use of the Internet as an alcohol marketing tool has successfully attracted underage audiences, and researchers have repeatedly voiced concern about the appeal of alcohol Web sites to underage youth.
“These alcohol Web sites are a virtual cyber playground with no adult supervision,” said Jim O’Hara, executive director of the center in a university press release. “Once again, the alcohol industry’s marketing codes are not protecting our youth.
CAMY’s also study found that 76 percent of the alcohol brands escaped parental controls installed by software packages, and that when logging onto Web sites, users were asked to state whether they were underage or not but were not prevented from accessing sites if underage.
“If a community found out that a local liquor store or bar was this ineffective at policing itself, there would be an immediate uproar and demand for accountability,” O’Hara said. “The alcohol industry is failing in its responsibilities to America’s parents and children.”
CAMY’s findings also included the youth-attracting nature of sites such as www.bacardi.com and www.skyy.com. In assessing such sites in October and November 2003, CAMY found video games such as a water-balloon toss, pinball, car races, shooting aliens and air hockey, as well as customized music downloads and instant messaging accessories clearly focused on beer and distilled spirits.
Overall, the report revealed that between July and December 2003, over 680,000, or 13.1 percent, of all in-depth visits to 55 branded alcohol sites were initiated by minors.