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Study: YouTube videos glamorise alcohol
YouTube music videos that promote alcohol, objectify women and use sexual imagery are likely to influence youths to binge drink and abuse alcohol, according to a study.
The study found alcohol was linked to personal image, lifestyle and sociability
Scientists from the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies (UKCTAS) studied the portrayal of alcohol content in popular YouTube music videos, analysing song lyrics and visual imagery in 49 UK Top 40 videos previously found to contain alcohol content.
The study found that content involving alcohol was associated with sexualised imagery or lyrics and the objectification of women, and that alcohol was linked to personal image, lifestyle and sociability. Some videos also showed encouragement of excessive drinking including those with branded alcohol, with no negative consequences to the drinker shown.
Dr Joanne Cranwell, from the UKCTAS, based at the University of Nottingham, said: “We wanted to pin down the exact extent and type of content in the Official Singles Chart UK Top 40 and the Vodafone Big Top 40 music chart to explore the true extent to which alcohol is being portrayed and whether UK alcohol industry advertising codes of practice are being violated.”
The findings also showed that the overt use of celebrity endorsement or brand ambassadors of alcohol products in music videos appears to contravene voluntary codes of practice.
The UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies is calling for new measures to try to curb the inclusion of smoking and drinking content in YouTube music videos, which unlike TV and film, are not classified according to age suitability.
The research claims several alcohol producers have adopted marketing strategies that contravene their own advertising codes of practice and calls for the music industry to implement new standards to reduce the use of branded and generic alcohol content in videos.
According to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, alcohol-related Youtube videos insinuate that alcohol can make you funny and attractive but offer little-to-no reference to the health risks of drinking too much.