Alcohol industry and ‘Drinkwise’ under attack in Australia
The Australian alcohol industry, its ‘Drinkwise organisation’ in particular, has been accused of seeking to create an impression of social responsibility while promoting measures for which there is little evidence of impact which are ‘are unlikely to hurt profits’. A particular cause for complaint is the ‘responsible drinking’ message the Australian industry has begun placing on product labels.
New research ‘exposes alcohol industry public relations tactics’
The attack on Drinkwise was made by a research team from Deakin University’s School of Psychology in Australia. The team examined submissions to the Australian National Preventative Health Taskforce (NPHT) to determine which organisations or individuals discussed positive relationships or work by Drinkwise. They found that all the submissions mentioning Drinkwise were submitted by the alcohol industry or its affiliates as evidence of their social responsibility or in recommending actions that are likely to benefit their bottom line.
“It is clear from our study that Drinkwise is being used by the alcohol industry for its own benefit,” said lead researcher on the project, Dr Peter Miller. “Drinkwise is being used to create an impression of social responsibility while promoting interventions that will have very little to impact on profits and failing to press for measures known to be effective, such as higher taxes on alcohol or curbs on drinks industry promotions.”
Dr Miller said the use of organisations known as SAPROs (social aspects/public relations organisation) is common among industries that harm many of their users, such as tobacco and gambling, as they appear to lend credibility to the industry’s claims of social responsibility.
“We conducted this study to gain a fuller understanding of the corporate political activity of the alcohol industry in Australia,” he said.
“Of the 375 submissions to the NPHT, 33 primarily covered alcohol, and nine of these 33 submissions also discussed Drinkwise. Only industry submissions referred to Drinkwise. “Every industry submission referred to Drinkwise either in terms of it being evidence for social responsibility and therefore deserving credibility, or in terms of suggesting the industryfriendly actions of Drinkwise as alternatives to the NPHT recommendations in addressing the issues of problems associated with alcohol use and abuse.”
Dr Miller also noted that “the recent industry push to implement soft labeling is reminiscent of tobacco industry campaigns and, in light of the findings in this study, the people to determine health information and messages should be the Government and health authorities, not the alcohol industry”.
The study, “Alcohol industry use of social aspect public relations organisations against preventative health measures”, is published online on the Addiction website: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1360- 0443/earlyview
Warning labels ‘too soft’
The industry’s ‘responsible drinking’ messages have been criticized as inadequate by the Australian Alcohol Policy Coalition. The Coalition called for larger warnings with outcome-driven health messages, such as “alcohol causes damage to young people’s brains”.
“The alcohol industry’s move to put warnings on some products is a step in the right direction, but it appears they’ve a way to go when it comes to effective health messages,” said Professor Robin Room, Director for the AER Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre.
Professor Room suggested the labels be mandated by law and come from national health experts, such as the Government’s new National Preventive Health Agency. “This is not about telling people what they can and can’t drink, it’s about giving consumers all of the facts to make informed decisions”, Professor Room added.
The Alcohol Policy Coalition recommends alcohol labels should:
- include text and graphic warnings about the range of health and safety risks of alcohol consumption
- occupy at least 25 percent of the package surface; and
- rotate with alternating specific, outcome-related health messages.
Professor Room continued:
“We’ve seen with the tobacco experience that industry will try to pre-empt stronger government regulation with soft, ineffective options. At least 43 countries already require some form of onproduct labeling, with 14 of these having mandatory health labels primarily around alcohol use and pregnancy. It’s time Australia caught up with the rest of the world.”
“We’ve seen the alcohol industry fighting labeling changes in other countries around the world and this is no different. There is no reason why alcohol, which is inherently harmful, is subject to less regulation than a carton of milk. We know the community wants government to make health information and labels mandatory rather than a voluntary system implemented by the alcohol industry.”
Research shows health labels can influence the choices people make because they target consumers at that critical point of decision making – when they buy alcohol and when they drink it. They can also influence actions after a person has been drinking, like deciding against driving or operating machinery.
Every week, alcohol hospitalises more than 1500 Australians and kills 60.