The use of alcohol is a major aspect of our society. It is used in religious ceremonies, during socialization, and its presence is seen everywhere. Second only to caffeine, more people drink alcohol than any other substance. It appears in many forms such as beer, wine, and hard liquor. It has been praised, denounced, accepted, and outlawed in the past century alone.

The effects of alcohol are numerous. From drunk driving accidents to fetal alcohol syndrome, from liver disease to the increased chance of sexually transmitted disease, alcohol's reach is widespread. Alcohol contributes to 100,000 deaths annually, making it the third leading cause of preventable mortality in the United States (McGinnis, p. 2208). As well, 41% of all traffic fatalities, the leading cause of accidental death, are alcohol-related (NHTSA, sec 4. p.1).

Underage drinking is a major problem in our society. Thirty-four percent of all high school seniors have had a drink in the past month (Johnston, p. ). As well, 1.2 million of these seniors are binge drinkers. (CASA, 1997). In eight grade, 1 million students admit they have been drunk (CASA, 1997). In 1996, nine million drinkers were under the age of

Alcohol, Health and Research World, 1993.

If someone asked you exactly what Tony the Tiger says when he appears in television commercials, how long would you need to think about it? If that same person were to ask you what those talking frogs say on television, how long would it take you to remember that? The majority of children nine years old to eleven years old can respond to the latter much faster than the first (Leiber, p. 1).

The most popular place for alcohol advertisements is in sports. Throughout stadiums you can see thousands of men with a beer in one hand and cheering on their team with another. Colleges denounce drinking on campus and insist they do everything they possibly can do to halt it as a problem on campus' across America, but in college sports on television there are 1.2 commercials per hour (Madden, p. 297-9)

On average, children are exposed to one thousand to two thousand beer and wine commercials a day (Hopkins, P. 25). That is almost one commercial a minute. This goes back to the basic principle of advertising; it sells products (Hopkins, P. 24). If teenagers get accustomed to alcohol now, they most certainly will continue using it when they are older. They are four times as likely to become alcoholic as well. But if these companies can recruit the children now, they will continue to receive money from them in the future. Advertising sells products.

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Approximate Word count = 1775
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)