The morning drama "Massan" premiered on Japanese TV in September 2014, telling the story of Masahara Taketsuru, the founder of the first Japanese whiskey distillery and his wife, who he met while studying in Scotland. The rising popularity of the show has had unexpected consequences – providing to be the perfect advertisement for the distilled drink and giving whiskey sales a 200% boost.
The impact of showing alcohol and drug use on TV is well known around the world, but few legislative measures have been taken to prevent the spread of these habits. There are numerous examples of mass media increasing the appeal of alcohol and drugs in society.
Following the enormous success of the "Breaking Bad" criminal drama on TV, methamphetamine smuggling into the UK rocketed 400% to meet the new demand, according to The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.
Tobacco has been banned from Hollywood films since the 1970's, as the depiction of cigarettes was proved to be related to adolescents smoking. However, the ban is often bypassed. There are no restrictions on depicting alcohol and drugs other than age ratings and sometimes disclamers, proving to be not very effective.
