Glamorous Portrayals of Alcohol and Marketing to Women Encourage Drinking

Beverage companies pushing to market their alcoholic drinks to a target audience have for years experimented with different ways to grow their market share and get people to spend more money. Many successful campaigns have focused on the glamour associated with drinking alcohol. For those seeking to make a “splash” in society, among their peers or just in their own mind, the right choice in alcohol and the amount consumed can have a big impact. 

The perceptions that accompany alcohol consumption have changed throughout the years, but one thing in particular is changing – the target audience. For years, men were the focus of multimillion dollar advertising campaigns to drive revenues. Now, the Girls’ Night Out crowd is growing, creating a whole new market segment.

To respond to this growing opportunity, liquor companies are paying attention to the design, flavor and packaging of their drinks. For instance, vodka is being offered in curvy, pink bottles for a more sophisticated and feminine look; mixed drinks are taking on more fruity flavors, nearly disguising the presence of alcohol altogether; and advertising campaigns are associating the right drink in the right glass with the right dress.

Women represent a powerful and growing segment of the market and these companies don’t want to miss out on the opportunity. While no one can really blame these companies for wanting to execute effective strategies, there is another side to the propaganda that alcohol is glamorous: in large quantities, it is anything but glamorous.

If a woman has the latest look and is dressed to impress, the glamour that may be associated with her look and poise quickly disappears when she has consumed too much alcohol to walk straight or hold a conversation. Even worse, if the women is passing out or vomiting all over herself and others, the glamour has completely disappeared.

Celebrities are playing a role in the glamour that is being associated with alcohol. According to research funded by the Government’s Economic Social and Research Council in the UK, celebrities are making binge drinking glamorous for young people. Social networking sites are contributing to the problem when they feature images of celebrities spilling out of nightclubs, giving the impression that excessive drinking does little harm.

Such images and propaganda also give the impression that binge drinking or heavy drinking is cool. By promoting such a message, young people or others who may be dealing with feelings of low self-esteem will buy into the theory that engaging in such activities will change the way that people see them and in effect, they way they see themselves.

The problem with this approach is that many people who engage in heavy drinking in an attempt to impress others can often do things they don’t remember or quickly regret, but didn’t have the sense to resist when under the influence of the alcohol. If a women engages in a situation that leads to date rape, contracting an STD or an unwanted pregnancy, the glamour associated with the alcohol is quickly replaced with regret – a high price to pay.