1. Similarities and differences between the arguments about advertisements and children and advertisements and young people 

A great deal has been written about advertising to the age group below adolescence, that is, to children.  Researchers and social policy specialists as well as pamphleteers and consumer activist groups have considered, often with more heat than reason, the effects of advertising, particularly television advertising to children.  The result is two opposing forces: educators and legislators who are bitterly opposed in terms of the data they quote, arguments they rehearse and more importantly legislation they want, and do not want, passed.         

          The academic debate has moved into the popular media with lobby and activist groups wanting to put their side of the argument.  More importantly these issues have influenced legislation.  The Swedes have established very strict laws and guidelines on television advertising of children's products.  They argue it establishes a better "balance of power" between consumers and producers; and they deny the argument that advertising funds programmes.  Those opposed to this legislation point out the absurdities to which the guidelines lead, the negative consequences for infantilised Swedish children, as well as the academic literature which provides no justification for the legislation.

          There are now powerful and well-funded groups demanding controls on advertising to adolescents and young people.  The focus has moved on to adolescents.  Just as there are specialist products designed for children (eg toys) that are the focus of attention of the above groups so there are products particularly designed for young people in their teenage years.

          However, arguments concerning advertising to adolescents are subtly different from those concerning advertising to children.  It is frequently claimed that children do not understand advertising in that they cannot distinguish an advertisement from a programme or understand the motives of advertisers.  Arguments for advertising to children are about comprehension and naivety as well as about how children influence/bully their parents into making purchases they would prefer not to make.  Adolescents begin to acquire more money through allowances, pocket money and part-time jobs.  They also have clear ideas about how they want to spend that money.  And some products have age restrictions put upon them. We thus have a very different situation with intellectually competent and financially able young people being restricted by law from buying certain products or taking part in particular activities.

          Hence the argument about advertising to adolescents is focused on when a young person becomes an adult and how certain products are potentially unhealthy.  There seems to be a distinction in these arguments about three groups: children aged under 12 years, adolescents aged 12 to around 16 years and those young people over 16.  As we shall see the law has to decide when certain activities such as consenting sex, buying alcohol, or driving a car are appropriate.  Different countries have different standards based on different assumptions.

          Various crypto-political groups have shifted their attention from children to adolescents and to some extent to young people.  The question remains the same: what is the effect of advertising to these two "pre-adult" groups?  And quite naturally the focus is, as always, on certain products.  It moves from toys and fizzy drinks which is mainly the focus of the argument on children to such things as alcohol which is the central focus of this report. It is central because of the sheer amount of research on the effects of alcohol advertising to young people this report will concentrate in this area.  In the UK adolescents are not allowed to buy alcohol in supermarkets, shops or public houses.  At the age of 18 young people are deemed "adult enough" to purchase alcohol. There are vociferous lobby groups opposed to alcohol advertising who focus on young people and adolescents.  It remains unclear whether they are wishing to "protect" non-buyers (aged below 18) or buyers (over 18) from advertising or whether they are simply opposed to the product (consumed in any form at any age).         

          The report looks at the role and effects of television advertising, particularly of alcohol, to young people.  Despite numerous widely adopted and respected self-regulatory codes certain groups favour legislation to "protect" young people from those attempting to sell specific products. It is now widely accepted that, by adolescence, young people have an adult understanding of society though economically they are inevitably restricted.  The law about what they can and cannot do is curious and inconsistent and there remain those who simultaneously want to lower the legal age for certain activities (sex) but increase it for others (work).