Humour and alcohol: children's favourite television advertisements

Abstract

AS part of a larger survey on children, smoking and advertising, 7,047 children aged 11-16 years were invited (a) to describe their favourite advertisement and (b) to explain why they chose it. The aim of this part of the study was to assess the popularity of advertisements for beers and lagers in the context of children's appreciation of advertisements for a wide variety of consumer products. The results high lighted the popularity of television advertisements, and particularly those which used humour to market the product. Beer and lager products were overall the most popular choice of a 'favourite' advert for 22 per cent of all boys and 9 per cent of all girls. For young males, the popularity of beer and lager advertise ments increased significantly between the ages of 11-16 years (p<0.001). Boys (p<0.001) and girls (p<0.001) who claimed to drink alcohol were signifi cantly more likely than non-drinkers to choose beer or lager products as a favourite advert. Children who reported to drink alcohol 'often' were significantly more likely to choose a beer or lager advert because they 'liked the product'.