Advertising in Alcohol

In this week’s reading, Berger discusses alcohol advertising and the ways advertisers use different tactics to create enticing commercials. Berger states that advertisers use humor and a sense of fun to create advertisements that manufacture desire of alcoholic products. For example, video #1 employs humor to sell beer. The premise is very simple: a meeting in which office members are discussing cutting costs in the company. A man suggests not serving Budweiser at every meeting and is subsequently thrown out the window. Video #2 uses the idea of having fun. It’s a mock campaign for Captain Morgan as President. The commercial is littered with images of people lounging by the pool and partying in clubs.

Video #1


Video #2


Similarly, anti-alcohol groups have attempted to employ the same advertising techniques in their public service announcements (PSAs). As shown in the first video, the main character is having a great time at a barbecue, drinking and making people laugh. Though this commercial ends in misfortune, the beginning of the video tries to emulate alcohol advertisements by showing how fun drinking can be for a minute. The next video uses humor to sell the idea of drinking responsibly. This man’s story also ends in tragedy. Though PSAs have tried to utilize the same tactics that have made alcohol advertisements successful, they seem to fall short due to lack of funds and inability to reach a national audience. While Budweiser can show multiple commercials throughout the Superbowl, advocacy groups do not have the same financial means to do so.


Video #1


Video #2

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