Abstract
AimsTo quantify tobacco and alcohol content, including branding, in popular contemporary YouTube music videos; and measure adolescent exposure to such content.DesignTen‐second interval content analysis of alcohol, tobacco or electronic cigarette imagery in all UK Top 40 YouTube music videos during a 12‐week period in 2013/14; on‐line national survey of adolescent viewing of the 32 most popular high‐content videos.SettingGreat Britain.ParticipantsA total of 2068 adolescents aged 11–18 years who completed an on‐line survey.MeasurementsOccurrence of alcohol, tobacco and electronic cigarette use, implied use, paraphernalia or branding in music videos and proportions and estimated numbers of adolescents who had watched sampled videos.FindingsAlcohol imagery appeared in 45% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 33–51%] of all videos, tobacco in 22% (95% CI = 13–27%) and electronic cigarettes in 2% (95% CI = 0–4%). Alcohol branding appeared in 7% (95% CI = 2–11%) of videos, tobacco branding in 4% (95% CI = 0–7%) and electronic cigarettes in 1% (95% CI = 0–3%). The most frequently observed alcohol, tobacco and electronic cigarette brands were, respectively, Absolut Tune, Marlboro and E‐Lites. At least one of the 32 most popular music videos containing alcohol or tobacco content had been seen by 81% (95% CI = 79%, 83%) of adolescents surveyed, and of these 87% (95% CI = 85%, 89%) had re‐watched at least one video. The average number of videos seen was 7.1 (95% CI = 6.8, 7.4). Girls were more likely to watch and also re‐watch the videos than boys, P < 0.001.ConclusionsPopular YouTube music videos watched by a large number of British adolescents, particularly girls, include significant tobacco and alcohol content, including branding.
Highlights
Harmful consumption of alcohol causes a global total of 2.5 million deaths [1], and tobacco smoking 6 million deaths [2], each year
Because most smokers start smoking during adolescence [7,8], and initiating alcohol consumption at a young age is a strong risk factor for dependence in later life [9], it is crucial to identify avoidable risk factors for tobacco or alcohol use in this period of development
We searched YouTube for videos of all records listed in the Official Singles Chart UK Top 40, which is used by BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, MTV and Music Week, and is a joint trade association venture between the British Music Industry (BMI) and the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) [41]; or the Vodafone Big Top 40 music chart generated from iTunes sales and aired weekly by most major UK commercial radio stations [42], in the 12 weeks ending Sunday 3 November 2013 to Sunday 19 January 2014
Summary
Harmful consumption of alcohol causes a global total of 2.5 million deaths [1], and tobacco smoking 6 million deaths [2], each year. In the United Kingdom alcohol and tobacco consumption cause, respectively, 7000 [3] and 100 000 deaths [4], and together cost the UK National Health Service (NHS) at least £5.4 billion [3,5,6] annually. Preventing this morbidity and mortality is a clear public health priority. We have used a British (GB) nationally representative on-line survey administered to 11–18-year-olds between 21 March and 1 April 2014 to measure reported viewing of 32 of the most popular videos containing either tobacco or alcohol imagery
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