Should They Really See This? The Depiction of Alcohol in Movies and Series Targeted at Children

Expectations and norms about the consumption of alcohol are built during childhood and are shaped by children’s media environment. Nevertheless, we lack insights into how alcohol is presented in children’s movies and series, particularly in comparison to healthy/mixed, as well as unhealthy beverages such as soft drinks. We conducted a content analysis of 114 movies and 133 series named by n = 648 children aged between 5 and 11 years, and n = 559 of their parents when asking them about the movies/series consumption during the last six months. Results show that alcohol is placed more often verbally as well as in interaction with a character, and is consumed more frequently by a character compared to soft drinks and a summary category of healthy/mixed beverages. Moreover, alcohol is more often associated with villains. Overall, our findings suggest a problematic depiction of alcohol in movies and series targeted at children.