Alcohol Industry Specifically Targeting Women with New Drinks
Over the last few years, the alcohol industry has focused advertising on women offering a new set of drinks that is more geared towards females. Spiked seltzers, hard sodas, and alcoholic teas have all hit the market with great success. Many of the new drinks offer lower calories and carbohydrates. The targeted advertising seems to be working as researchers are seeing a rise in heavy alcohol consumption in women.
WKOW Madison recently looked at how there had been a large spike in the number of drinking-related deaths for women. Citing a story put out by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the news station reported that the largest increase in alcohol-related deaths was in women. The rate between 1999 and 2017 rose a whopping 85 percent compared with 35 percent for men.
Women are now drinking more and binge drinking more than they had in the past. Targeted advertising makes it more acceptable and more desirable. The news station describes the efforts of the industry as a “culture shift” making it “more attractive to drink.”
Heavy drinking can have a particularly devastating effect on women’s health. From an increase in cancer risk to trouble conceiving, excessive alcohol use can be as dangerous if not more so for females. As colleges across the country resume classes, staff are taking time to remind both men and women of the risk of binge drinking. Whether underage or in their early 20s, both women and men are at increased risk of assault, sexual assault and death. College students who drink excessively also report being more prone to academic problems including “falling behind in class, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall” as reported by the NIAAA.