by Pierre Du Plessis

Created on: July 02, 2008

Should alcohol and cigarette ads be banned? Some people say that ads for alcoholic beverages and cigarettes should be banned completely. Whilst most people (except for the cigarette companies themselves) will probably agree about cigarettes, and indeed I think cigarette ads have already been banned, only some will think the same about alcohol, mostly those that have a personal reason to. Others, such as people who work for beer companies and so on, and also the TV companies who get the paid for the advertisements, will disagree. A lot of people probably won't mind. Frankly, I don't see why beer ads should be banned, but I am not writing only to tell you my opinion on the matter, but I am writing so that you can see the matter from all angles and your own opinion.

On one hand, the people who oppose alcohol and cigarettes and even want it to be banned to advertise them (probably mostly teachers, parents, and people who have personal reasons) will argue that it makes people (teenagers) more aware of alcohol ect and therefore leads to more drinking. Besides this, they think it will reduce drink-driving incidents and other alcohol-related incidents. What is more, they think that it may help prevent people drinking from a young age.
On the other hand, the opposition (mostly alcohol and TV companies) will argue that it probably won't make a huge difference, since people who drink alcohol in adverts aren't displayed as super-human or something, and several adverts simple describe the making of their beer. In fact, they'll say any influence they have is balanced out by the anti-drink adverts on TV. As well as that, they'll also say that it would cause a loss of jobs and money for both their companies and the TV companies.
In short, my opinion is that I don't see why beer ads should be banned. I think that teenagers respond less to what is advertised on TV than to what their mates at school are doing. Beer ads certainly are often amusing, and like the alcohol companies, I also think that they are balanced out by the somewhat un-amusing anti-alcohol adverts. On the contrary, cigarette adverts should certainly be banned, and thankfully it is banned to advertise harmful drugs, however, it is possible to go too far. As it is, I haven't seen any beer or other alcohol adverts that are out-of-order, although if they were to actually make out-of-order adverts, those adverts should be banned.

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