Challenging social norms and the alcohol industry
Alcohol is everywhere – our environment is saturated by alcohol promotion. Like smoking, alcohol as a harmful product needs proper regulation – it is too cheap, too available and too heavily promoted. We need a new national strategy to reduce rising levels of harm.
Alcohol use is the biggest risk factor for death, ill-health and disability among 15 to 49-year-olds in the UK. Yet little has been done to limit its promotion. Marketing serves to normalise alcohol consumption and have us believe it is part of everyday life from a young age. Research has found that 82% of young people recalled seeing at least one form of alcohol marketing in the last month. There is also strong evidence to show that exposure to alcohol marketing leads young people to drink more, and to drink at an earlier a
From power walls of bottles and cans in supermarkets, big name drinks brands sponsoring major sports tournaments and music festivals, it is clear that the current self-regulatory system is not working…..more than half of UK adults support a ban on alcohol advertising in outdoor public spaces, on social media and online.
In the same vein the alcohol industry and its catchphrase “Drink Responsibly” is designed to give people the message that alcohol is harmless to the average drinker. Big alcohol encourages us to see harms arising from alcohol as someone else’s problem and an issue only to those drinking to excess.
But medical evidence is now clear there is no such thing as a safe level of alcohol. Alcohol is a Group 1 carcinogen which means any level of regular drinking increases cancer risk. Find out more about our “Alcohol is Toxic” campaign.
Read this factsheet on alcohol and cancer from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe
We also know both children and people who have had serious issues with alcohol, or been through recovery are hugely affected by alcohol marketing.
Almost 1 million people in the North East are drinking above the low risk guidelines of no more than 14 alcohol units per week.
Balance takes a bold approach when it comes to challenging the alcohol industry’s framing of the issue and the tactics it deploys to promote its products.
We question the wider environment in which alcohol is seen as normal and desirable whilst fostering increased awareness of the tactics used by ‘big alcohol’ and the inappropriateness of using industry funded and developed resources.
Karen went through recovery from alcohol addiction - she talks about alcohol marketing
"Drinking responsibly" - what do they mean????
The alcohol industry’s used the slogan “drink responsibly” on most of its advertising and marketing. But this has been heavily criticised for distracting people from the risks of alcohol and suggesting risk only comes at very high levels of alcohol consumption.
This is a vague term for the thousands of people in our communities who are putting health at risk by drinking above guidelines, have overcome alcohol addiction or need support. The fact is also that any level of regular drinking is now known to raise the risks of seven types of cancer.
Alcohol companies have been attacked for using “drink responsibly” as a deliberately vague term which provides no real information about what that means. It also is an implicit instruction to drink. Many public health experts also claim this is simply a corporate social responsibility smokescreen to deflect blame for the harm of alcohol away from big corporations and onto individuals.
Research now shows:
- 60% of alcohol sales are to those who are risking their health from drinking above the recommended CMO guidelines – worth an estimated £23.7bn in alcohol sales in England alone
- If all drinkers followed the recommended drinking guidelines, the alcohol industry would lose almost 40% of its revenue, an estimated £13 billion.
We advise partners to avoid the term “Drink responsibly” – read Balance’s Drinking Responsibly briefing
Read this study from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health –Drink Responsibly’ Messages in Alcohol Ads Promote Products, Not Public Health
There is significant evidence to show alcohol advertising has an impact upon attitudes to alcohol and behaviour – especially among young people.
Alcohol marketing encourages young people to drink at a younger age, and once they have started it encourages them to consume more, with some alcohol brand identities fixed around sport, friendship coolness, festivals or parties. It is both the content and the volume of advertising and marketing that causes the damage.
Online and social media has also been described as a wild west for alcohol advertising with influencers promoting big alcohol brands. ,
Read our Balance briefing on Young People and Alcohol Advertising
Read the Alcohol Health Alliance briefing “No Escape” – how alcohol advertising preys on children and vulnerable people”