EUCAM Newsletter November 2019 - Updates on alcohol marketing

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EUCAM aims to disseminate impact research on alcohol marketing and encourages the monitoring of alcohol marketing.

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European Centre for Monitoring Alcohol Marketing (EUCAM)
P.O. box 9769 | 3506 GT | Utrecht | The Netherlands

T: +31 (0)30 6565 041 | www.EUCAM.info; @EUCAM1
e-mail: eucam@eucam.info

Visit www.EUCAM.INFO for all recent information about alcohol marketing

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Alcohol sales still growing in the face of cannabis legalization

26 October 2018
By Beth Newhart.
The nationwide legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada went into effect last week, with many concerned about what the new market could do to beer, wine and liquor sales. But TABS Analytics’ 2018 BevAlc study found no reason start worrying–yet.

Link to the article (with copyright).

Alcohol industry corporate social responsibility may do more harm than good

25 October 2018

Content analysis finds CSR effectiveness is illusory

Alcohol industry corporate social responsibility (CSR) schemes strengthen their own commercial interests while failing to meaningfully reduce harmful alcohol use, according to a new report released today.

Published in the BMJ Open, the study of industry CSR actions across six global regions found that almost all of them (96.8%) lacked scientific support. Meanwhile, alcohol producers benefitted from brand exposure and the appearance of being able to manage risk and achieve strategic goals.

The research team employed a content rating procedure to analyse 30% (N = 1,046) of 3,551 industry-sponsored actions described in an online database website maintained by the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD).

Actions were assessed on the basis of their global distribution according to United Nations regions, the benefits reaped to the industry in terms of marketing potential, impact on regulatory policy, and type of CSR strategy, and the public health impact of the industry actions were evaluated in terms of their likely effectiveness and potential harm.

The industry actions were found to have been conducted disproportionately in regions with high-income countries (Europe and North America), compared with lower proportions in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

In addition to a widespread lack of scientific rigour behind the actions, only a quarter (27%) conformed to the recommended World Health Organisation (WHO) target areas for global action to reduce the harmful use of alcohol, and 11% had the potential for doing harm.

Commenting on the report, lead author Professor Thomas Babor, head of the Department of Community Medicine and Health Care at the University of Connecticut said of the findings:

‘The corporate social responsibility activities of alcohol producers conceal a clear conflict of interest in improving public health, as a truly effective approach to tackling alcohol harm will only hurt their bottom line. Governments, however, have a clear duty to put public health first and must do so without industry interference.’

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Cricket and football stars call for alcohol ad ban in Aussie sport

Adnews, 15 October 2018

Big names in sport are calling for alcohol advertising to be banned in sport following research that revealed 365 booze ads aired during the NRL grand final.

Authorities in sport are calling on the government to ban alcohol ads in Australian sport with launch of the End Alcohol Advertising in Sport campaign following the 2018 NRL grand final.

Research by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) found the NRL grand final to air 365 alcohol ads during the coverage, a staggering three ads every minute, compared to the AFL grand final airing 188 alcohol ads, or one per minute.

The campaign calls for a complete ban on alcohol ads during sporting events in an effort to reduce children’s exposure to alcohol ads.

Former Rugby League player Steve Ella, former AFL coach Mick Malthouse, former cricketer John Inverarity and dual Olympic gold medallist Clover Maitland are among those supporting the ban campaign.

Link to the original article

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Alcohol related tweets, including alcohol emojis, are common among young adults

Available online 4 October 2018

Proportion of alcohol-related twitter posts are associated with drinking outcomes.

Implications for how Twitter data can be used for surveillance and intervention.

Introduction

Despite the importance of social networking sites on young adult alcohol use, few studies have examined Twitter as a conduit for sharing drinking behavior. However, this work generally uses random samples of tweets and thus cannot determine the extent to which Tweets correspond with self-reported drinking cognitions or behaviors. The primary aims of the present study were to (1) document basic patterns of alcohol-related Twitter activity in a subsample of young adult drinkers, and (2) examine whether willingness to drink, alcohol use, and negative consequences are associated with alcohol-related tweeting behavior.

Methods

186 young adults age 18-20 completed an online survey and provided Twitter handle information. From these participants, a random sample of 5,000 Tweets was coded by a trained team to determine whether tweets were related to alcohol use or not. Ordinary least squares regression analyses were conducted to determine whether the proportion of alcohol-related Tweets is associated with self-reported alcohol use willingness, behaviors, and negative consequences.

Results

Results indicated that not only are alcohol-related tweets common among young adults, but that the proportion of one’s overall tweets that are related to alcohol is significantly associated with willingness to drink, alcohol use, and negative consequences.

Conclusions

The results of this study are an important step to understanding how digital behavior (e.g., posting about alcohol on Twitter) is related to an individual’s self-reported drinking cognitions, alcohol use, and negative consequences and has implications for the way Twitter data can be used for public health surveillance and interventions.

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Ireland: new Alcohol Bill passes all stages of the Parliament

10 October 2018
The Public Health Alcohol Bill has passed through the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) this evening. It will lead to stricter rules on how alcohol is sold in Ireland. This is the first piece of legislation which addresses alcohol as a public health matter.

It means that alcohol products will now include health warnings including the link between alcohol and cancer, nutritional information, and the dangers of drinking while pregnant.

Advertising alcohol will be restricted in certain places while there will also be restrictions on how alcohol companies sponsor sporting events.

Action will also be taken on the separation and visibility of alcohol products in stores. New rules will also be laid out for advertisers and the times and content of television advertisements will be restricted. The Bill will now go to President Michael D Higgins for signing and enactment.
In a statement, health minister Simon Harris welcomed the passage of the Bill. “This legislation has been debated for over 1,000 days. It has been the subject of the most intense lobbying by the alcohol industry,” said Mr Harris.

“But today it completes its passage through the Oireachtas and becomes the first time Ireland legislates for alcohol as it affects our health and it is right and proper that we do so.

We know that we have a relationship with alcohol in this country that is not good, damages our health, harms our communities and harms many families.

“The measures in this Bill will make a real difference to changing the culture of drinking in Ireland over a period of time.”

Link to original article

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