Addiction for Sale

Alcohol addiction is one of the major forms of addiction in the world alongside with drug addiction. It often starts with the individual abusing alcohol due to several reasons like peer pressure, curiosity and the likes.

Eventually, the abuse develops into an addiction which becomes powerful, obsessive and compulsive.  

It would interest you to know that there are some places or events that induce alcohol addiction. This is one of the major reasons why, during rehab, the recovering individual is often advised to avoid some places so that the cravings would not resurface.

Below are some places/events that encourages addiction to alcohol:

• Bar

If you don’t want to get addicted to alcohol, the bar is one place you should not go to. Usually, there are variety of drinks for you to select from. And sometimes, drinks are often on the house. With this, alcohol abuse is regularly encouraged, which later results into alcohol addiction.

When some individuals are feeling distraught, going to the bar is one of the first places that comes to their mind. Doing this act only helps to spur addiction on and nothing else. Also, if you have friends who visit the bar more often than usual, there is a tendency you will be invited to join them.

• Parties

If you are someone who attends parties regularly, there is a good chance that you will get addicted to alcohol. These days, parties are not complete without alcohol particularly for parties where the attendees are above the age of 18.

These days, several people do not see the wrong in taking too much alcohol. And one reason is because, they derive too much pleasure from it. To avoid alcohol addiction, you would have to cut down on your parties’ attendance.

• Nightclub

The nightclub is another easy means to get addicted to alcohol. At a nightclub, hardly will you see anyone not taking alcohol. People who frequent nightclubs are likely to get addicted to alcohol in the shortest possible time.  

The prevalence of addiction is more widespread than before. As people, corporate bodies and organizations strive to reduce the rate of addiction, other mediums encourage addiction. One of the proficient means to make sure the rate of addiction reduces, is by using effective marketing means to enlighten people.

Here are 3 marketing mediums to teach people about addiction:

• Word of Mouth Marketing

Word of Mouth marketing has been one of the most proficient marketing means even before the internet was invented. And the interesting fact is, if the normal marketing mediums fade off in due time, word of mouth marketing will last forever.

The reason for this is, talking is an integral part of us. In our day-to-day activities, we market various products and services with our mouths without being aware.

In the enlightenment of people about addiction, word of mouth marketing would come in handy because it is easy to convince people when you speak. Word of Mouth marketing can even be done proficiently on the internet, the media space, real-life campaigns and a host of others.

• Social Media

With the invention of the internet, the social media has proved to be one of the strongest force in marketing and communication. Almost everyone is on one social media platform or the other and this has made it very easy to spread information at the speed of light.

People learn different things from the various social media platforms available, and it would be a great idea to increase the awareness of addiction. There are several people who do not know they are addicted. Heck! There are a number of people who know they are addicted but they do not know it is bad.

If it is done expertly, the social media would be a great means to educate people about the ills of addiction.  

• Print Media

Even though the social media seems to have edged out the print media, it is still very effective in marketing. The print media can be used to spread truths about addiction, and those who can read or interpret images depicting the ills of addiction would be able to get the message. 

Marketing is a very interesting field, and it has taken a new turn. These days, marketing does not involve educating prospective customers about various services so that they can make the right decision.

Marketing these days employs the use of emotional strategies and influencing tactic so that customers can make their decisions based on what product to buy, using their emotions basically.

This is the danger which is inherent in the addiction process.

Addiction is as a result of indulging in an obsessive and compulsive act or substance use, in order to derive pleasure.

These days, marketing has rebranded these acts as being normal and this is why people do not really have an understanding of what addiction is.

Taking substance addiction for example, it results from substance abuse, and this is promoted by marketing.

You will see alcohol being rebranded as something which ensures you are active and not dull.

The sad part is, the side-effects which comes with alcohol are not usually highlighted, so that prospective customers would not be dissuaded from buying it.

Addiction has lots of negative effects, and for those who think there are positive effects, they are usually short-lived.

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In the long run, if an individual’s addiction is not well catered for, the person could die in the process as a result of damage to the internal organs of the body.

Therefore, it is necessary that those who are addicted should seek treatment before it is too late.

One of the set of people who are at the forefront in the fight against substance abuse or any form of addiction, are health practitioners.

Hence, it is advised that they use marketing as a means to sensitize their locality on the detrimental effects of addiction.

The means of marketing should be top-notch, so that it can promote the exact intended message.

Once this is done on a regular basis, it is certain that people would have a good understanding of how addiction works, and this would reduce the rate of addiction in the populace of a nation.

It is a well-known fact that the purpose of marketing is to make us aware of certain things which we most times, do not need at that moment. However, it could happen that periods could arise when we would be in dire need of those products, and we would search for them painstakingly.

It can be said that the proficiency of the marketing methods used prior to when you needed the product, would determine if you would get it promptly or not.

Also, most times, marketing makes some content available to us which we do not take full consciousness of, except for certain contents such as money, food, sex and alcohol. When it comes to the aforementioned contents, it would interest you to know that, it would be difficult for you to forget.

When it comes to addiction, marketing has played a huge role in making it known to people; even making some of them getting addicted in the process.

Marketers put up addictive items for sale, such as food or alcohol, in such a manner that it would not look harmful, and there would be a subtle advocate for the absence of self-control.

Someone who is well-informed, would tell you the rate at which the product should be used. However, the marketer would make no mention of that, and would also leave out the possible consequences which come with taking or using the product more than usual.

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Taking alcohol for example, a good number of marketers show alcohol as something which can be consumed and have no side-effects. It is usually portrayed as something which comes with great rewards.

When addicts come across these advertisements, it becomes even harder for them to quit, as they would come to believe that the product would bring no harm to them. Hence, it reduces the light of the situation, making it look less serious than it should actually be.

Conclusively, it can be said that marketing has done more harm than good when it comes to the misrepresentation which it has shown of addictive substances, and this act is currently on the rise.

There is a very fine line between puffed-up claims and outright false, or deceptive, advertising. Though in most countries, advertising law protects consumers from intentionally confusing, misleading or untrue statements, there are many ways to skirt the regulations. While not illegal, many advertising practices would certainly qualify as unethical: hidden fees for products and services – prices marked with an asterisk are usually a good indicator that you will not be getting the exact advertised item at the listed price; misleading claims, that are not outright lies; ambiguous photography – such as realtors or hotel management using angles and tricks of the light to make rooms appear larger.

Worse than that, though, are marketing campaigns that fail to mention the dangers of addiction, or that attempt to normalize risky behaviours. In North America, prescription drug advertising must include warnings about any side effects or potential for addiction. Most alcohol promotions also ask the consumer to use good judgement, drink responsibly, and to not drink and drive. Some casino and lottery commercials remind the viewer that the odds are not in their favour and to exercise caution when gambling. But what if the leading coffee shops had to include warnings in their marketing material about the dangers of caffeine consumption? What if fast food restaurants had to disclose that their products can be highly addictive and contribute to obesity and poor health?

Commercial advertising is often harmful and though some say that advertising is merely reflecting us back to ourselves and giving us what we want, it does not really give us the intangible goods such as love, community, self-esteem, and friendship, that it uses to sell us tangible, material ones (TR Piety, 2001). And when the advertiser cannot, with 100% certainty, predict who will be viewing their commercials – or worse yet, when minors are specifically targeted by deceptive advertising – our youth are receiving mixed messages. They might be told outright to “just say no” to drugs, but are still bombarded by cigarette, alcohol and prescription drug advertising depicting attractive people living glamourous lives.

We are being sold commodities as surrogates to fill the perceived voids in our lives which encourages an addict mentality. Both the psychology of commercial advertising and marketing and the psychology of addiction appear to be characterized by denial, escapism, narcissism, isolation, insatiability, impatience, and diminished sensitivity; and while advertising appeals to these impulses, addiction is marked by them. (TR Piety, 2001) And though we know that commercial advertising depicts false situations realistically, it’s hard not to fall victim to the temptation posed by the lifestyle they project.

“Everyone else is doing it!” Does that sound familiar? A phrase that hearkens back to grade school days, or even beyond: if all my friends are doing something, why can’t I? “Jimmy’s Mom lets him eat candy every day!”; “If all the cool kids are seeing that R-rated movie, why shouldn’t I?”; “Everyone in my grade has already tried drinking and drugs except me!”; “I must be the only virgin left in college”; and the lists goes on and on. Peer pressure, or even the appearance of it, can be a powerful thing. And while society is fairly well equipped to handle peer pressure in childhood and adolescence, we may not know how to deal so well with “Everyone is doing it” as adults.

It is a harmful mindset – one in which risky behaviours like using drugs, gambling, or flirting with the law, are made to seem more socially acceptable as it’s implied that everyone is already doing it. The danger is even greater for young adults – in addition to navigating such difficulties as discovering their identities and establishing their adult lives and relationships, their actual physiology also puts them at risk as, in late adolescence and early adulthood, brain chemistry is quite susceptible to the social rewards that accompany risky behaviour (Webber, Soder, Potts, Park, and Bornolova, 2017). We have intrinsic motives for wishing to conform to our peers: we seek to avoid rejection and be accepted by the members of our social group, we’re creating or maintaining our image, or aligning ourselves with those we feel have higher status (Fishbach & Tu, 2016; Nail, MacDonald, & Levy, 2000). If our social identity defines who we are, then we might feel more inclined to imitate the behaviour of someone we seek to emulate.

Advertisers use this desire to belong in order to sell – whether it be alcohol, food, clothing, vacations, gaming, or any other risky choice – in the same way a drug dealer would pressure a high-schooler to try their product. Even though the adult approach is far more polished, we shouldn’t be taken in by such schoolyard tactics as peer pressure: “Everyone is doing it!” Why can we see clearly enough to dissuade our children, and yet fall for the same strategies ourselves? And why should I conform even if everyone is acting inappropriately, for as Saint Augustine is reported to have said, “Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.”?

Glamorous people, exotic locations, exclusive clubs, who wouldn’t want to be a part of the party scene? Haven’t we all wished for less responsibilities and more fun? It couldn’t hurt to have just one night out with friends – even if it means calling in sick to work the next day. But for some, one night out becomes a weekend away, then a constant desire to shirk their duties for more fun and more excitement. And that desire is precisely what advertisers work to create: a huge group of friends enjoying their favourite beer together at a sports bar while the home team wins the championship, beautiful celebrities drinking premium liquor at an exclusive VIP nightclub, a dozen lovely ladies whisking the bachelorette away for a luxurious weekend in Vegas… whatever the specifics, marketers are selling the party scene as an escape from our humdrum lives.

With workplace stress levels at an all-time high, many people are tired and vulnerable, and would love nothing more than to escape their day-to-day responsibilities. Clever marketers prey on that susceptibility by showing the consumer how much fun they could have – if they buy whatever the company is selling; it could be alcohol, or vacations, fast food, or even video games – ultimately, the advertisers create a need that the consumer feels they must fill. Those advocating the Party Scene have taken that one step further and are selling an entire lifestyle.

For example, as more and more casinos have cropped up nationwide, we have seen an increasing numbers of advertising campaigns touting gambling as the latest and greatest trend in the entertainment industry. As Mark D. Griffiths (Ph.D.) explains in his articles Gambling Advertising and Marketing, excitement, glitz, and – best of all – winnings, are practically guaranteed in every television commercial; these get-rich-quick-and-live-the-life-you’ve-always-dreamed-of promotions gloss over some of the true threats present in the Party Scene: the high odds of losing when gambling, the associated evils of alcohol and drug consumption, and a belittling of the values of hard work and financial preparation for the future.

While the lure of a temporary escape is powerful in this age of overworked, overtired and underappreciated employees, it behooves the consumer to remember that such escapes truly are temporary and that, while the occasional wild weekend may not cause any harm, abandoning one’s duty to join the party scene will inevitability do more harm than good.

It is next to impossible, in our current hyper-connected era, to avoid advertising in all its forms. During a 1-hour television program, the viewer can expect to see approximately 15 minutes of commercials; magazines have dozens of ad pages; radio advertising often crops up between songs and during hourly news and weather updates. Most consumers find ads to be an understandably annoying interruption – but for some, they’re a minefield to be navigated: for a recovering addict, the recurring temptations posed by alcohol, food, gambling or even vacation ads can be difficult to resist. Advertising practices far too often prey on vulnerabilities, feeding our need to fit in by showing attractive models looking flawless, living perfect lives and having tons of fun, and showcasing their product as the key to achieving that perceived ideal lifestyle.

First, to someone with a food addiction or an eating disorder, the prevalence of food marketing can be difficult to resist: billboards spread throughout cities, print advertising in newspapers and magazines, coupon mailings or flyers, television and radio spots bombard the consumer throughout their day, whether at work or home.
To someone addicted to travel or using it to avoid their responsibilities, or to fill a void, especially those spending money they can ill afford to, the prevalence of low-cost vacation advertising – especially online – feeds the craving to escape reality and travel to exotic and fabulous locations.

For the recovering alcoholic, navigating daily life while avoiding the desire to drink is certainly difficult enough without encountering ads touting the smooth flavour of their liquor of choice.

Further, the advertiser can never be sure of their audience; though American advertising standards prohibit alcohol advertising using child-focused characters and where there is no reasonable expectations that over 70% of the audience will be over the legal drinking age, far too many children can still be exposed to alcohol ads and other harmful marketing, as many sports clubs or events are sponsored by alcohol producing companies.

Currently, many countries have strict standards for advertising, or even ban the advertisement of specific products, such as alcohol; health warnings on products labels might be required, which – though they inform citizens of the consequences of drinking alcohol – have not, according to A Review Of Research Into The Impacts Of Alcohol Warning Labels On Attitudes And Behaviour by Tim Stockwell, PhD., had a significant impact on reducing high-risk drinking in the United States.

How could an addiction be socially acceptable? It’s truly a matter of semantics – and of the tolerance of the addict’s peer group. Generally, we avoid using words such as addiction, problematic, or out of control for behaviours that we consider socially acceptable – even when excessive. The term addiction is usually reserved for that which we deem socially inappropriate or deviant; and the specific behaviours encapsulated by that label vary according to social customs and standards of time and place. What does that mean?

Simply put, it’s difficult to view consuming illegal drugs, such as cocaine, as acceptable in social settings; however, consider the same behaviour from a different perspective: if everyone attending a party has partaken in cocaine, then the one person abstaining will be viewed as “outside” the norm and seen as less socially acceptable. Even cigarette smoking is increasingly viewed as an intolerable habit, though our grandparents’ and even our parents’ generations favoured the use of tobacco products.

For most of society, certain addictions are permissible, or even encouraged – especially those grounded in consumerism: a love of food, the reliance on caffeine, having a glass of wine with dinner or a cocktail with friends, the use of painkillers (either with a prescription or over-the-counter), dedication to one’s job, physical fitness, shopping, light gambling such as an occasional Bingo Night or Casino trip, and even casual sex (whether within or outside of relationships) are all tolerated by most of society. We will even turn a blind eye to mild transgressions such as one drinking binge, or the executive who spends more than 60 hours at the office every week – so long as no one is hurt, we don’t feel the need to step in and intervene in our loved one’s life. As long as the addict seems to be in control of themselves, and is able to mostly resist temptation, society chooses to ignore their occasional lapse

In truth, any of these seemingly innocent – and far too common – behaviours can be harmful if taken to excess: one wild weekend devolves into drinking to excess every Friday and Saturday night, and then daily. Even children and teens are at risk; the Society for the Study of Addiction discusses methods to diagnose internet gaming disorder – an addiction to video games. At what point should we step in to curb the addictive behaviours of those around us, of those we care for, those we love?

We are all aware that the purpose of marketing is all too often to sell us things that we do not really need. Most of us can remember this lesson, until it comes to one of those commodities that people have a particularly strong craving for, such as alcohol, sex or food. Whatever your particular vice is, it is the one you are most likely to believe the advertisements for. This is dangerous, because marketers capitalize on the things that people have weaknesses for, making them a problem to your personal addiction recovery.

Marketers sell addictive items to people, such as alcohol or food, in a way that makes them appear harmless and implies no necessity of self control. A responsible, informed consumer of the item can tell you approximately with what frequency it is meant to be used. The advertiser, on the other hand, will promote the item as a regular necessity and will make no mention of the consequences of treating the commodity as such.\n\nThis fact is one of the foremost failings of consumerism and of society’s role in addiction problems. The economy in North American countries idealizes consumerism as the primary means of keeping the economy healthy, but pays no mind to where it is creating unhealthiness. Mental health problems, including addiction, are at an all time high, and connections can be found between this trend and what the ad world subjects us to.\n\nAdvertising is extremely invasive in our culture. It is on every type of digital media device we own, it is on the sides of freeways, it is on bus stop benches, it is on our cars and so on and so on. Even the most media literate person is susceptible to the modern messages of advertising, and its reach only grows wider with time. Now, more than ever, we need to take care to protect ourselves against the influences of advertising and marketing that promote addictive tendencies as harmless, commonplace and desirable.