Striking the Balance: Protecting Youth from Overexposure to Alcohol Ads and Allowing Alcohol Companies to Reach the Adult Market

In September 2003, both the Beer Institute and the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) followed the Federal Trade Commission's 1999 recommendation, and announced their members would raise the minimum adult audience composition of media in which they will advertise from 50 percent to 70 percent. The Center for Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) recently released this white paper seeking to examine the impact of this 70 percent threshold on reducing underage youth exposure to alcohol advertising.