Companies spend huge amounts on advertising in order to promote their brands. It is a well known fact that publicity scores over advertising primarily because the latter is unpaid for and is considered to be impartial.
The other side of the story also holds true. Companies worry about bad publicity because it can adversely tarnish their image. There have been numerous cases where companies have had bad publicity, but perhaps nothing as bad as the one that Budweiser brand has received.
Is Steel Reserve Malt Liquor Worse?
A study, attempting to find what kind of alcohol consumption tends to land the drinker in hospital has found that Budweiser beer is the number one culprit.
The study, conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, established that Budweiser beer is the preferred choice amongst people who do not make the best of decisions.
The iconic American beer commands 9 percent of the domestic market share so far as sales are concerned but unfortunately results in 15 percent of most emergency room (ER) landings.
If one reads the finer print, Budweiser can be excused. Steel Reserve Malt Liquor that ranks 2nd on the list of brands that are responsible for maximum ER landings commands only .8 percent of the domestic beer market, but accounts for 14.7 percent of the ER market.
Steel Reserve thus has a considerably lower market share but accounts for only .3% less ER landings than does Budweiser.
Pioneering Attempt
The latest study is a pioneering attempt to review alcohol consumption by brand and correlate it with the number of patients reporting to the hospital with injury.
“Understanding the relationship between alcohol brands and their connection to injury may help guide policy makers in considering taxation and physical availability of different types of alcohol given the harms associated with them,” said study researcher David Jernigan, Ph.D., director of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The findings of the study have been published by Substance Use and Misuse.
