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Marketing

On this page

  • Facts and stats
  • Briefings
  • Reports
  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Videos

Alcohol marketing includes advertising in traditional media outlets (such as print, television and radio), promotional activities in online and social media, and sponsorship of sporting and music events.

The alcohol and advertising industries argue that as alcohol is a legal product it should be legally possible for it to be advertised, while many argue that advertising is also concerned with recruiting new drinkers and increasing sales among existing (and especially) heavy consumers. Many see parallels between alcohol advertising and promotion and that of tobacco in the past.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) identifies comprehensive marketing restrictions as one of the three ‘Best Buys‘ for reducing the health harms of alcohol.

This page looks at how alcohol marketing strategies work, and their health and social implications.

Facts and stats

  • Cross-sectional studies conducted in the UK have found that more than 80% of 11-19-year-olds were aware of exposure to alcohol marketing in the past month. (Critchlow, N, et al. 2019)
  • Exposure to alcohol marketing develops brand preferences and positive expectations around alcohol among young people, creating and reinforcing social norms that alcohol is positive and aspirational. (AFS)
  • Young people who are more aware of brands, or who have developed brand preferences, are more likely to drink more alcohol. (AFS)
  • Alcohol marketing leads young people to start drinking earlier, to drink more if they are already drinking, and to drink at heavy or problematic levels. (Jernigan D, et al. 2016)
  • Evidence suggests a causal role between alcohol marketing and drinking among young people. (Sargent and Babor, 2020)
  • Alcohol marketing has been identified as problematic for vulnerable groups, such as those in recovery. Marketing can cue the desire for alcohol and can be a ‘trigger’ for relapse. (Alcohol Health Alliance, 2021; Alcohol Focus Scotland, 2022)
  • Recent research identified persistent availability and marketing of alcohol was one of the largest risks to recovery. Participants also noted the difficulty of going shopping due to alcohol being at the front of shops. (Shortt, N., 2017)
  • Sophisticated data-driven tools – such as social media algorithms – disproportionately target those who drink the most, potentially causing significant harm. (Carah, N. and Brodmerkel, S., 2021)
  • People in recovery also can feel ‘bombarded’ with alcohol adverts on social media and the volume of adverts has even increased when they attempted to remove them from their feed. (Metro News, 2021)
  • Gender advertising is a prominent feature of alcohol marketing.
  • A rapid narrative review of literature on the subject found that recent developments in alcohol advertising strategies have shifted their messaging from female objectification to subjectification (self sexualising), where adverts containing sexualised imagery are aimed at women on the grounds of empowerment through sexual agency. (Atkinson, A. 2019)
  • Analysis of marketing messages and strategies used by alcohol brands to target women on Facebook found a variety of gendered lifestyle messages and interactive strategies being used. This included a focus on pre-drinking, female friendship and bonding; relaxation and ’me time’; motherhood, gendered events and activities such as Mother’s Day and shopping; a focus on appearance, fashion and beauty, and the feminisation of marketing imagery (e.g. the use of pink, glitter and floral imagery). (Atkinson, A. 2021)
  • Evidence suggests that young men may be more affected than young women are by broadcast advertising, especially for beer. (Fitzgerald, N, et al. 2016)
  • Themes directed towards men in alcohol advertising include humour, relaxation, friendship and masculinity as well as sexual themes which often portray men exerting power over women. (Noel, JK, et al. 2017)
  • Alcohol industry accounts for 20% of all sports sponsorship agreements worldwide. (Children’s Parliament, 2019).
  • Sport sponsorship reaches from static advertising on stadiums and the pitch sides, to logos on players’ shirts, the goal posts and banners at press conferences.
  • Analysis of the rugby union Six Nations Championship games found an average of 5 references to alcohol per broadcast minute. (Purves, R.I. and Critchlow, N., 2021).
  • Many different sectors choose to associate with music festivals, but those with the most potential for success are alcoholic drinks, with 75% of festival goers spotting alcohol ads at festivals and 77% believing alcohol brand advertising would work best at festivals. (Marketing Week, 2009)
  • It is estimated that alcohol brands spend more than $1.54 (US) billion annually on music festival sponsorship. (Hovland, R., 2015)
  • A survey for a festival support service has found that 93% of festival goers liked the brands that sponsored the events; 80% were more likely to buy a product after engaging with them at a music festival; and 37% believed they had a better overall perception of the brand after the experience. (AEG and Momentum Worldwide, 2015)
  • In 2019, a content analysis of alcohol content in reality TV shows popular with young people – including children – found all of the episodes contained alcohol imagery, and a study reviewing 50 episodes of the five highest-rated series on Netflix and Amazon Prime found 94% of episodes contained alcohol. (Barker, AB. Jnl of Public Health, 2019 and Barker, AB. BMJ, 2019)
  • In 2018, there were 281 active sports sponsorship deals with the top 30 alcohol brands in the world, worth a total of $764.5m

How lucrative are alcohol sponsorship deals? by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

Briefings

Outdoor Alcohol Advertising by Area of Deprivation

August 2024

Alcohol and Marketing

Reports

People, Planet, or Profit: alcohol’s impact on a sustainable future

November 2022

The COVID Hangover: addressing long-term health impacts of changes in alcohol consumption during the pandemic

July 2022

IAS Annual Report 2021/22

May 2022

IAS response to consultation on alcohol alternatives

May 2022

IAS response to consultation on WHO Framework to strengthen Alcohol Action Plan

April 2022

The Marketing and Consumption of No and Low Alcohol Drinks in the UK

March 2022

Alcohol marketing during the 2020 Six Nations Championship: A frequency analysis

September 2021

Ofcom Proposals for the regulation of advertising on video-sharing platforms

July 2021

Foul play? Alcohol marketing during UEFA Euro 2016

April 2017

International evidence and best practice on alcohol labelling

March 2016

IAS response to the UK Government’s consultation on a new strategy for sport

October 2015

IAS response to consultation on Directive 2010/13/EU on audiovisual media services (AVMSD)

September 2015

IAS response to European Commission study on exposure of alcohol marketing to young people (Ecorys)

September 2015

Alcohol advertising and sponsorship in Formula One: A dangerous cocktail

May 2015

IAS response to Department of Health consultation on low lower alcohol product labelling

January 2015

IAS response to the ROI consultation on sports sponsorship by alcohol companies

June 2014

Internet influences on adolescent attitudes to alcohol

May 2012

IAS response to Consultation on options for improving information on the labels of alcoholic drinks to support consumers to make healthier choices in the UK

April 2010

IAS response to Consultation on product placement

January 2010

IAS response to Advertising Standards Authority CAP consultation

June 2009

IAS response to Advertising Standards Authority BCAP consultation

June 2009

IAS response to Ofcom consultation on alcohol advertising

September 2004

Blogs

12286Zero-alcohol drinks make teens think of alcohol – so why are we treating them like soft drinks?

Zero-alcohol drinks make teens think of alcohol – so why are we treating them like soft drinks?

Dr Ashlea Bartram

29th April 2025

12121Rainbow-washing or genuine allyship? How alcohol companies target the LGBTQ+ community

Rainbow-washing or genuine allyship? How alcohol companies target the LGBTQ+ community

Dr Sandra Souto Pereira and Professor Antonia Lyons

10th March 2025

12096‘Dark Apps’ uncovered: popular alcohol tracking apps backed by the alcohol industry mislead users

‘Dark Apps’ uncovered: popular alcohol tracking apps backed by the alcohol industry mislead users

Dr Elliott Roy-Highley and Professor Mark Petticrew

25th February 2025

12047Alcohol calorie labelling might help change drinking habits

Alcohol calorie labelling might help change drinking habits

Dr Florence Sheen

6th February 2025

12002Alcohol warning labels featuring lived experiences attract greater attention

Alcohol warning labels featuring lived experiences attract greater attention

Dr Zexin “Marsha” Ma

7th January 2025

11945“Outta sight, outta mind?”. What do the public and professional stakeholders think about alcohol policy?

“Outta sight, outta mind?”. What do the public and professional stakeholders think about alcohol policy?

Dr Elena D. Dimova

4th December 2024

11801Corona Cero and the Olympics

Corona Cero and the Olympics

Dr Alex Barker, Isabella Stevens, and Sophie Bower

16th October 2024

10542Dragging their heels: the alcohol industry’s response to mandatory pregnancy warning labels

Dragging their heels: the alcohol industry’s response to mandatory pregnancy warning labels

Professor Simone Pettigrew and Bella Sträuli

19th December 2023

Podcasts

Alcohol’s hidden climate impact

In our latest podcast, Dr Megan Cook of La Trobe University discusses alcohol’s overlooked environmental impact. Dr Cook explores how […]

Dr Megan Cook – La Trobe University

April 2025

No and low alcohol products: why they’re gaining attention, who consumes them, and public health concerns

In this month’s podcast we spoke to John Holmes, Professor of Alcohol Policy at the University of Sheffield, about no […]

Professor John Holmes – Sheffield Alcohol Research Group

March 2024

Scotland’s alcohol marketing consultation

On this month’s podcast, we spoke to Nicola Merrin, Policy and Research Manager at Alcohol Focus Scotland. We discussed the […]

Nicola Merrin – Alcohol Focus Scotland

February 2023

How companies use gendered norms to sell more alcohol

We spoke to Dr Amanda Atkinson of Liverpool John Moores University about gendered alcohol marketing. Among other things, we discussed: […]

Dr Amanda Atkinson – Liverpool John Moores University

October 2022

Videos

Alcohol Marketing: Explained

March 2024

Marketing and Consumption of No and Low Alcohol Drinks in the UK

January 2022

‘Alcohol marketing during the 2020 Six Nations’ – report launch webinar

November 2021

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