Alcohol marketing in digital and social media: Results and implications of a brand scan

Issues: Multiple longitudinal studies have linked increased youth exposure to alcohol advertising to greater likelihood of drinking initiation and increased alcohol consumption. Growing expenditures on display internet advertising are indicative of the pace at which alcohol marketers are moving from traditional “measured” media to digital and social media.

Description: Based on survey results, we selected ten alcohol brands popular among youth, and conducted a scan of those brands' activity across four leading digital media platforms.

Lessons Learned: Using social media platforms, alcohol companies have generated millions of followers, are hosting tens of thousands of user- and brand-generated images and videos, are frequently violating their codes of good marketing practices, and are subjecting themselves to little or no age-gating to guard from exposing young people to their marketing activities in these media. Best practices for protecting youth from exposure exist among the companies, but even these are relatively weak, and use of them is far from universal.

Recommendations: At a minimum, alcohol companies should observe the best practices of their peers, and learn from the experience of tobacco companies that, under close scrutiny from state attorneys general, have developed more effective forms of age verification without unduly impinging on personal privacy. The Federal Trade Commission should subject alcohol industry practices in these media to much closer scrutiny, and encourage implementation of its 1999 recommendation that the industry develop “no-buy” lists of media and channels where high levels of youth exposure are likely to occur.