A Description of Advertisements for Alcohol on LinkNYC Kiosks in Manhattan, New York City: A Pilot Study

Incidental Alcohol Appearances in Advertisements on City Buses in Manhattan, New York City: A Descriptive Study

This paper describes incidental exposure to alcohol in advertisements on buses in Manhattan, New York City. From April to July 2019, researchers observed advertisements on all bus lines in Manhattan and coded the content of these advertisements, including the kinds of products and services advertised and whether alcoholic beverages or images were present. Despite a ban on direct alcohol beverage advertising within the Metropolitan Transit Authority in 2017 (and expanded in 2019), almost one in five of the 136 advertisements observed (n = 25) included incidental exposure to images of alcohol portrayed in a favorable way and/or associated with well-known movie stars and television personalities. Advertisements on city buses are unlike any other, as they traverse the city streets and create considerable exposure to residents, including youth. This study demonstrates that banning advertisements for alcohol will not necessarily restrict favorable images containing alcohol and that youth continue to be exposed to these images.

Violence depicted in advertisements on LinkNYC kiosks in Manhattan, New York City

Violence has a profound negative impact on the lives of youth. Exposure to violence may be a precursor to violence later in life. The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to estimate the prevalence of violence depicted in advertisements on LinkNYC kiosks in Manhattan, NYC, and (2) to determine if violent advertising varied based on the median annual income of the zip code in which the kiosk was located. This cross-sectional study involved observations of advertisements on 100 LinkNYC kiosks that were selected randomly from 500 that were listed in Manhattan, NYC. The frequency and type of violent depictions were recorded. The kiosks were grouped into quartiles of median annual income (1) $40,782 and below (2) $40,783 to $86,801 (3) $86,802 to $105,500 and (4) $105,501 and above. Of the 2025 total advertisements observed, including duplicates, a total of 190 (9.4%) included violent content. These 190 advertisements were observed on 68 of the 100 kiosks and included 339 depictions of violence. The overwhelming majority (n = 136; 71.6%) of violent depictions were for movies. There were significant differences in the frequency of violent content based on income quartiles, χ² (3, n = 190) = 19.00, p < 0.001. The highest two income quartiles had fewer violent advertisements than would be expected and the lowest quartile had more violent advertisements than expected. Symbols of violence were the most frequent type of violence portrayed observed in 85% of the violent advertisements observed (n = 161). Weapons, crime and fighting were observed in 5-11% of the advertisements. Our study suggests that greater alignment between the city's aims to improve community health and reduce health disparities and advertising policies on LinkNYC warrants consideration.