The Globe and Mail, May 1, 1997
Republished with permission

If, as an advertiser, you want teenagers to see your commercial, just air it during a show which broadcasts a warning of violence.

This is the conclusion of a study by researchers at the University of Western Ontario's Richard Ivey School of Business. But the study itself comes with a warning. The advertising industry may be tempted by the findings and saturate the shows with ads for youth-oriented products. This move may render the ads ineffective.

The authors of the study, professors Jay Handelman and Michael Parent, explain the violence warnings act almost like an advertisement, "inducing interest in the adolescent viewer to watch the program."

The findings come at a time when parents, teachers and other critics are most concerned about violent and otherwise unsuitable programming on television. The debate also follows the release of new rating systems in Canada and the U.S., which are meant to alert parents and caregivers to violence, sex, or course language in television programming.

Some have voiced concern that the ratings, which flash on-screen before a program goes to air, actually create a "forbidden fruit" effect and heighten the appetite for violent programs.

The results of this study will be of interest to companies that advertise fast food, soft drinks, video games and running shoes, products which appeal to the youth market. The research suggests that teens have a significant recall of commercials that are shown during programs preceded by a warning.

Peter Swain, president of Media Buying Services Ltd., a company which places ads on TV, says some of the shows popular with adolescents include The X-files, The Outer Limits, and Millennium. The broadcasters of these programs don't have trouble filling the commercial spots.

Swain cautions that these programs contain risks for the advertisers. While advertisers who target teens have gravitated towards the more violent programs, there is also a reverse trend emerging from the backlash against TV violence.

"It doesn't take much to create a bandwagon effect and go after an advertiser," said Swain. He also said that advertisers aren't finding their audience as easily. Teen TV viewing has dropped 10 per cent over the past five years.

He believes that this drop can be attributed to a shift in interests – more teens are more interested in their home computers.