It is certainly not a new theory that tobacco and alcohol companies target adolescents in their advertisements. Why wouldn't they? The teenage years are characterized by trying to figure out who you are and thus, experimenting with new things. This gives outside influences an opportunity to shape the thoughts and development of adolescents. Studies have been performed to discover what elements of these advertisements appeal to young people, thus leading them to want to participate in the illegal activities being portrayed. Of course alcohol and tobacco companies have done studies and research of their own in order to know how to market their products, so it is the job of the smart consumer to recognize when a company is manipulating its buyers. 

Many studies have shown that the majority of people who smoke during adulthood do so because they began smoking as a teenager. That is reason enough for tobacco companies to target adolescents. When it comes to alcohol, a national study concluded that greater exposure to alcohol advertisements creates an increase in underage drinking. For instance, for each ad an adolescent viewed, the teen drank 1% more. Once again, teenagers prove to be a shapeable target for this industry. Due to FDA regulations put in place in past years, tobacco advertisements have become very limited because of the known harm. Alcohol industries, however, do not have such harsh restrictions. 

One study was performed on teens to explore how much influence advertising has on their decisions to purchase cigarettes. This is the very first study to use a virtual method to study the habits of teens in terms of their choices in purchasing tobacco products underage. In the experiment, teens between the ages of thirteen and seventeen were selected, comprising of both smokers and nonsmokers. They were each given a shopping task to complete in a virtual convenience store, in which they were instructed to purchase four specific items along with two items of their choice. Based upon random selection, the individuals were put into one of six convenience store setups, each containing anywhere from no cigarette advertisements and solely tobacco ban displays to a wall full of a variety of cigarette packs. Since the participants in the study were not of age to buy the products, if they attempted to do so, the cashier would automatically deny them. The study results showed that the convenience stores with cigarette displays were associated with more purchases of tobacco products than stores without these products on display. Additionally, the purchases of the teens reflected that stores with tobacco product ban displays helped to deter the subject from purchasing cigarettes. Furthermore, like any accurate experiment, the testers took into account other variables that could have an effect on the individuals' decision whether or not to buy cigarettes. For example, some factors included the person's usual source of cigarettes, social influence to smoke, sensation-seeking behavior, smoking behavior, and the individual's personal demographics. 

College students are one of the target groups for tobacco and alcohol companies. The Harvard School of Public Health conducted a content analysis of the cigarette and alcohol advertisements in young adult magazines as a way to examine the relationship between young adults' use of the two products. The goal of the study was to discover what tactics cigarette companies use that involve promotion of alcohol and vise-versa. This journal firstly presents that companies like this tend to target college students because young adults "are known to embrace freedoms, such as being able to drink too much" and simply because this age group is known for spending money on alcoholic beverages. Therefore, it would make it sense to promote cigarettes in a way that incorporates alcohol or a bar/nightclub scene. It makes the ad more appealing and relatable to that particular audience. Additionally, this age group is at the stage of life where they are experiencing many important life transitions and adopting new activities. For example, many are leaving home for the first time, starting college, or starting a new job. The journal also states, "Researchers have established that the tobacco industry's sponsorship of promotional events at bars and nightclubs represents attempts to attract young adult consumers by linking a tobacco brand name with alcohol use and the bar environment" (Belstock et al. 383-89). The results showed that almost one-third of the cigarette advertisements contained a visual or written reference to alcohol. Over two-thirds of the ads containing alcohol had representations of bar or nightclub settings and 44% included a visual display of alcohol itself. Alcohol-flavored cigarettes were advertised in 16% of the ads, which is an ironic example of how much the two are related. 

Like the previous study, a study by Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation focused on the aspects of alcohol advertising that appeal to adolescents, but it was done with the subjects directly instead of studying magazines. In the study, children from both a high school and a K-8 public school were brought in to view commercials for a variety of nineteen different beers. As part of the experiment, 65% of the high school participants and 16% of the K-8 participants reported drinking in the past twelve months. After viewing each advertisement, the subjects rated how much they liked each of the following elements in the ad: people, animals, story, and music, and humor. Additionally, they were asked how likely or unlikely they would be to buy the particular brand advertised if they were to purchase beer. The results of the experiment showed that 92% of the participants "somewhat liked" or "liked very much" the Budweiser "Ferret Replaces Lizard" commercial, which was the highest likability percentage of all the advertisements. This particular ad showed two lizards being replaced by a ferret as the Budweiser mascot then the ferret was introduced and mimics a rockstar. Other well-liked commercials included another Budweiser ad "Dalmatians", Bud Light "The Mouse", and Coors Light "Beer Man". The three most favored commercials contained animals as the leading characters. In the introduction of the journal, it is mentioned that previous research "found children and adolescents to respond positively to animals, humor, and musical elements featured in television beer advertisements" (Chen et al. 553-65). This was proven to be true in this study, as the commercials most popular with the subjects contained the same elements and the ads least popular contained adult situations instead. Although companies use these elements in their marketing techniques to appeal to youth, is this something that could even be regulated? It is not as if adults couldn't also be drawn in by the same elements and it would be absurd to tell companies that they cannot use a cute animal in their commercials. 

A study was conducted which analyzed previously secret tobacco industry documents that became available to the public. An analysis of the documents in order to figure out why and how the tobacco industry markets young adults brought the researchers to three conclusions. The first conclusion was that the industry views the shift from beginning smoking to becoming a pack-a-day smoker as a series of stage and they developed strategies for marketing to lead smokers through each stage of the process. Secondly, the industry focuses on key transition periods in young adult lives, as mentioned before. In these periods, the industry uses marketing that focuses on social activities and relaxation. The third conclusion made about industry marketing is that they study the attitudes, role models, values, activities, etc. of their target age group and incorporate these things into their promotions. This journal refers to the transitions in a person's life that make them more susceptible to begin smoking or increase the frequency that they smoke as "life passages". Tobacco marketers choose these times because they tend to be stressful, making them perfect times to take advantage of the effects of nicotine. 

Due to a concern for the existence of video games and other such elements on alcohol websites, the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth has reported a catalog of the features of alcohol websites that appear to be attractive to youth. As the Internet becomes more advanced and has more capabilities, today's youth is growing up using this technology frequently, making it a main influence in their lives. In 1997 and 1998, the Beer Institute and the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States adjusted advertising codes for alcohol companies. These regulations remain in place today and include requirements to post reminds of the legal drinking age on websites, make addresses available to parental-control software companies, and prohibit content intended to appeal primarily to underage youth (Clicking with Kids). Over a period of three months, CAMY reviewed the content of alcohol websites using categories identified as "attractive to youth", such as video games and cartoons. Findings showed that 67% of beer websites, 37% of distilled spirits sites, and 4% of wine websites featured games. Even higher percentages of the sites contained cartoon figures and graphics. Additionally, most of the seventy-four websites did not require the user to confirm that he/she was of legal drinking age. Even if the websites did ask for the users' birthdates, it is only the Internet, where it is easy to lie and access any site. If this cannot be monitored, there is nothing we could do to stop underage viewing. 

Based on these studies and numerous others, it is easy to see that alcohol and tobacco companies target adolescents using elements like animals, games, humor, women, and cartoons. Solutions to this issue are limited because industries can target whomever they please and will never admit to targeting underage youth. Furthermore, if the advertisements are limited to adult channels, adolescents who choose to watch adult shows are still being exposed and influenced.
