Potential youth exposure to alcohol advertising on the internet: a study of internet versions of popular television programs

Background: None of the previous papers has examined alcohol advertising on the internet versions of television programs popular among underage youth.

Objectives: To assess the volume of alcohol advertising on web sites of television networks which stream television programs popular among youth.

Methods: Multiple viewers analyzed the product advertising appearing on 12 television programs that are available in full episode format on the internet. During a baseline period of one week, six coders analyzed all 12 programs. For the nine programs that contained alcohol advertising, three underage coders (ages 10, 13, and 18) analyzed the programs to quantify the extent of that advertising over a four-week period.

Results: Alcohol advertisements are highly prevalent on these programs, with nine of the 12 shows carrying alcohol ads, and six programs averaging at least one alcohol advertisement per episode. There was no difference in alcohol advertisement exposure for underage and legal age viewers.

Conclusions: There is a substantial potential for youth exposure to alcohol advertising on the internet through internet-based versions of television programs. The Federal Trade Commission should require alcohol companies to report the underage youth and adult audiences for internet versions of television programs on which they advertise.     

Structural responses to the obesity and non‐communicable diseases epidemic: Update on the Chilean law of food labelling and advertising

Chile approved the law of food labelling and advertising in 2012; this law aims to address the obesity epidemic, particularly in children. The implementation details were published in 2015, and the law was implemented finally in 2016, as described in the current article. Regulated foods were defined based on a specially developed nutrient profiling, which considered natural foods as gold standard. For liquid foods, amounts of energy, sugars, saturated fats, and sodium in 100 mL of cow's milk were used as cut‐offs. For solid foods, values within the 90th ‐ 99th percentile range for energy and critical nutrients were selected as cut‐off within a list of natural foods. A stop sign stating “High in <nutrient>” was chosen as warning label for packaged regulated foods. Regulated foods were also forbidden to be sold or offered for free at kiosks, cafeterias, and feeding programme at schools and nurseries. Besides, regulated foods cannot be promoted to children under 14 years. A staggered implementation of the regulation was decided, with nutrients cut‐offs becoming increasingly stricter over a 3‐year period. These regulatory efforts are in the right direction but will have to be sustained and complemented with other actions to achieve their ultimate impact of halting the obesity epidemic.     

GMENAC Report on Ophthalmology

This paper determines how the GMENAC report was prepared and presents a perspective on the report. The Department of Health and Human Services mandated that the panel should have five ophthalmologists as well as five nonophthalmologists who were physicians, plus two optometrists to make 12 members. Of the five ophthalmologists, this author was the only one in full-time practice; the other four ophthalmologists were university based. A perspective on the report is that refractions will be approximately 60% of the work load of the ophthalmologist with cataract surgery being 6.5%, and other types of office procedures making up the rest of the working day. It is estimated that by 1990 we will have 14,688 ophthalmologists, and this will mean a surplus of 4,700. It is this author’s opinion that the ophthalmologists may well work more hours per week than the 41 hours estimated by the panel, as more hours will be needed to pay their overhead. The panel agreed that the medical school training programs must decrease the number of residents.     

Public Enemy Number One: The US Advertising Council's First Drug Abuse Prevention Campaign

This article explores the Advertising Council's first national drug abuse prevention campaign in the s. Scholarship thus far has demonstrated the ways in which the issue of drug abuse represented a chief political strategy for President Nixon. Evidence from major trade press publications, congressional hearings, and an array of archival sources suggest that this campaign was also part of a public relations crusade on behalf of the advertising industry in response to public criticism of its role in abetting a culture of drug dependence. These institutional and political pressures helped shape drug abuse prevention in the s and for the decades that followed.     

A content analysis of advertisements for psychotherapy workshops: implications for disseminating empirically supported treatments

This study involved a content analysis of 261 unique advertisements for psychotherapy workshops that appeared in two bimonthly clinical magazines, Psychotherapy Networker and Counselor, during a 2-year period. Two independent judges coded each advertisement and documented the type and prevalence of advertising appeals used. From the seminal diffusion of innovations model, Rogers' (2003) five perceived characteristics of innovations found to influence adoption in diverse fields were not well represented in these workshops appeals, appearing less than 10% each. Few advertisements cited specific empirically supported treatments or presented any evidence of treatment effectiveness beyond expert testimonials. The most frequently noted appeals were to benefit the clinician (e.g., earning education credit or developing skills), characteristics that enhance credibility of the workshop (e.g., reference to storied history or mention of faculty), and features of the advertisements itself (e.g., use of superlatives and exclamation points). Promotional strategies to advertise psychotherapy workshops can be used to inform the dissemination of empirically supported treatments.