[Alcohol beverage advertisements--survey of weekly magazines].

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of alcohol beverage advertisements appearing in weekly magazines and comics. Few studies have be undertaken on this sector of the mass media in Japan. The results are compared with those of a similar study in the United States. We also review alcohol advertisements on television and the drinking scenes shown in comics. On the average, Japanese magazines tend to contain fewer alcohol advertisements than American magazines. However, 18 (53%) in 34 weekly magazines contained alcohol advertisements showing that such magazines are an important medium for alcoholic beverage advertising in Japan. There were also alcohol advertisements targeting to particular populations, youths and women, which may be connected with the increase in drinking in these groups. Alcohol advertisements in the mass media should be monitored continuously as public health issue.