Alcohol companies market their products in order to increase sales, whether through reaching more customers or getting existing customers to purchase more. Research has found that alcohol companies are often reliant on heavy drinkers for their profits and will target their advertising towards younger drinkers to encourage them to become the “heavy-using loyalists of tomorrow”. [1]
Alcohol marketing
Millions of people suffer every day as a result of alcohol – that’s why it is so important that we have evidence-based policies in place to make sure it is marketed effectively.
Why it matters
If alcohol marketing results in more alcohol being consumed by a population, the harms associated with alcohol will rise. Harms are not only to the drinkers’ health and harm caused to others around the drinkers, such as people exposed to violence and accidents.
As well as encouraging sales, marketing also has the effect of normalising drinking, and associating alcohol in people’s minds with desirable or pleasant experiences.
Alcohol is marketed not just through TV, cinema, and billboard ads, but also through product placement in TV shows, sponsorship of sports events, merchandise, placement within supermarkets, on social media, and even on the packaging itself. All of these various elements of the marketing mix support and depend on each other. [2]
For example, when Heineken linked up with the James Bond film franchise, the deal included images of 007 on Heineken bottles and boxes, product placement in the films, television commercials, access for fans to unseen movie content, and even a selfie taken from space for people to share via social media.
When those who are vulnerable, such as children and people in recovery, are exposed to marketing, it can also increase harm. Research has found that exposure to alcohol advertising is linked to children drinking from an earlier age and in a riskier way. [3] 82% of young people in one research study recalled seeing at least one form of alcohol marketing in the past month. [4] Research with young adult drinkers in Scotland found that participants were sceptical of alcohol companies’ motivation to warn customers about the dangers of alcohol – especially taking issue with the phrase ‘drink responsibly’ as being “vague” [5] and a way to displace responsibility for alcohol harms away from the alcohol company.
Social media marketing is particularly unregulated, because it is so new. This means it is a space where alcohol companies can take the opportunity to target advertising towards particular audiences. In a survey of 11-19 year olds in England, 13% had engaged with alcohol marketing on social media. The more they had engaged, the riskier their drinking behaviours were. [6]
The content of marketing can also be harmful. Adverts which link alcohol with risk-taking or social success or which encourage excessive consumption could increase drinker’s likelihood of causing themselves or others harm.
How regulation works
Alcohol should be marketed responsibly and only to adult drinkers. Marketing of alcohol, like the marketing of other products, can be regulated. Rules can restrict both the content of marketing ads and materials, and where and when the marketing can be displayed.
Who does the regulating is important too. In the UK we have a co- and self-regulatory system, where alcohol companies have a degree of control over how the industry is regulated. In other countries the government is the regulator. In France, the government’s ‘Loi Evin’, introduced in 1991, comprehensively restricts the content and placement of alcohol marketing. It includes a ban on television and cinema adverts, a ban on cultural events sponsorship, and limits the content to factual information only. [7] However, even with this law, there are ways for the alcohol industry to circumvent the rules through ‘alibi marketing’. This is where indirect references to brands through the use of colours, fonts and slogans are used – most noticeably seen sports sponsorship. A study of the 2016 UEFA tournament found that 123 instances of alcohol marketing on average in each match broadcast, with 91% of these being alibi marketing. [8]
Here in the UK, the three main regulatory organisations are:
- the Advertising Standards Authority, which is funded by the advertising industry [9] and oversees alcohol advertising
- Ofcom, which oversees sponsorship of TV shows
- the Portman Group, which is funded by the alcohol industry [10] and oversees alcohol packaging and labelling
The end result is that no single regulator sees the complete picture. This also means that the industry are regulating themselves, which is seen by many as ineffective. [11]
Most of the rules on broadcast advertising have struggled to keep pace with changes in the digital age. Regulation lags far behind advances in marketing techniques in both scope and purpose and the activities of current regulators often lack transparency. An examination of the Portman Group’s rulings on alcohol advertising complaints from 2006-17 found that decision-making has not been consistent and that decisions often appeared subjective. [12]
