Theory and research on the processes of early social learning in children indicate that television and television commercials play an important role in children's internalization of cultural meanings, interpretations, and values, whether or not the commercials children see are intended or directed at them. Between the ages of two and eighteen, the period in which social learning is most intense, American children see something like 100,000 television commercials for beer. This study examines the cultural myths and messages in a sample of 40 such commercials broadcast on network television during weekend daytime and evening hours in February and March of 1987, analyzes the relationships among beer, masculinity, and driving represented in those commercials, and discusses the implications of those relationships for children's attitudes toward beer drinking and driving. (A)
Abstract