January 2017. Special Supplement of Addiction on alcohol marketing
The key findings from the collection of peer-reviewed manuscripts include:
• Exposure to alcohol marketing is associated with youth alcohol consumption.
• Analysis of alcohol promotion during the 2014 FIFA World Cup indicates alcohol marketing practices appear to breach industry voluntary codes of practice.
• Alcohol industry self-regulatory codes do not sufficiently protect children and adolescents from exposure to alcohol promotions, especially through the social media.
The papers offer guidelines to developing more effective alcohol marketing regulations:
• The most effective response to alcohol marketing is likely to be a comprehensive ban on alcohol advertising, promotion and sponsorship, in accordance with each country’s constitution or constitutional principles.
• Regulations should be statutory, and enforced by an appropriate public health agency of the local or national government, not by the alcohol industry.
• Regulations should be independent of the alcohol industry, whose primary interest is growing its markets and maximising profits.
• A global agreement on the marketing of alcoholic beverages would support country efforts to move towards a comprehensive ban on alcohol advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
• Collaboration with other population-level efforts to restrict marketing of potentially harmful products, such as ultra-processed food, sugary beverages, tobacco, and breast-milk substitutes, should be encouraged and supported.