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The seven key messages of the alcohol industry
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INTRODUCTION
The alcohol and tobacco industry sell products thatcan be dangerous to our health. For this reason,governments take action by, or example, raisingtaxes, enorcing age limits, prescribing warning
labels and restricting advertising and sponsoring.
Literature shows that the industrythe alcoholand tobacco companieshave traditionallyworked closely together, sharing inormation andconcerns about regulation. They have used similararguments to deend their products in order toprevent or delay restrictions being placed on them(Bond, et al. 2010).
The intention o this brochure is to inormproessionals about the attempts made by thealcohol industry to inuence alcohol policyglobally and to subsequently arm them againstthe industrys methods to prevent eective policiesrom being made.
I you have comments regarding this brochureor examples o the alcohol industrys lobbyingpractices please send them by email to theEuropean Centre or Monitoring Alcohol Marketing(EUCAM).
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The image communicated by theindustry: The regular consumer oalcohol is social, enjoys and is atthe centre o a vibrant social lie.Alcohol is a natural part o a lie ohealth, luck and prosperity as wellas good habits and traditions.
Explanation:To bring this message home, alcohol advertisements
nearly always associate alcohol consumption with health,
sportsmanship, physical beauty, romanticism, having riends
and leisure activities. That alcohol is also related to serious
health problems, trafc accidents, unemployment, violence,
child abuse and suicide is something you will never see inadvertisements.
MESSAGE 1
CONSUMING ALCOHOL IS NORMAL,
COMMON, HEALTHY AND VERY
RESPONSIBLE.
Brewed or youractive liestyle
Alcohol advertisements nearly always associatealcohol consumption with health, sportsmanship,physical beauty etc.
website:www.bacardi.com
The spirit o BacardiAdvertisements are an example o the consumerbeing the centre o a vibrant social lie
website:
www.stampedelightbeer.com
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Explanation:It is not the alcohol that is the problem, but the irresponsible
behaviour o this group o drinkers that is highlighted as the cause
o the above mentioned problems. The act that the majority
o individuals who consume high levels o alcohol are in act
ordinary, everyday citizens who are not social deviants is not the
message the alcohol industry presents. Indeed, the message o
the industry is that ordinary citizens drink responsibly and that
bad citizens drink irresponsibly and are the cause o any and all
problems associated with high alcohol consumption. In reality
the alcohol industry earns millions o euros on heavy drinkers.
The industry claims that their marketing eorts only result in
the responsible consumption o alcohol, but I that were indeed
the case, the prots o the alcohol industry would plummet
enormously.
In countries such as the US, UK, Canada and Australia, data has
shown that approximately 50% o all alcohol is consumed during
risky drinking (above the sensible drinking guidelines) or binge
drinking (Baumberg, 2009). In other words, a large portion o thealcohol industrys prots is dependent on the risky drinkers.
The European Forum or ResponsibleDrinking (EFRD): Harm associated with alcohol abuse is
largely related to high-risk drinking patterns.
The vast majority o European adults consume alcohol
responsibly and it is now widely recognized that patterns
o drinking, and not simply volume o alcohol consumption,provide the best predictors o alcohol-related harm
(http://www.erd.org/main.html).
EFRD: The European Forum or Responsible Drinking (EFRD)
is an alliance o Europes leading spirits companies driving the
industrys commitment to promote responsible drinking in the
EU and encouraging industry to adopt responsible sel-regulatory
standards or commercial communications (quote website EFRD:
www.erd.org)
Heinekens Corporate
Social Responsibility Campaign:Know the signsHeineken teaches us how to recognize the signs preceeding
drunkeness. The ve typologies presented in their campaign
are: the Exhibitionist (the one who becomes too joyul), the
Fighter (the one who becomes too agressive), the Crier (the
one who becomes melancholic and talks to anyone who is
disposed to listen), the Groper (the one who disturbs others with
inappropriate behavior) and the Sleeper (the one who can sleep
anytime, anywhere ater having consumed too much alcohol).
The industrys main message: the problem is not the product
(beer) rather the character of the drinkers . In the words ofthe industry: the normal and responsible drinkers use our
product and the bad and irresponsible drinkers misuse our
product.
MESSAGE 2
THE DAMAGE DONE BY ALCOHOL IS
CAUSED BY A SMALL GROUP OF DEVIANTS
WHO CANNOT HANDLE ALCOHOL.
The image communicated by the industry:It is only a small group o individuals who abuse alcohol that cause problemssuch as crime, the spread o diseases, sta absenteeism, violence, sexualabuse and poverty. They are abusers o alcohol who must be dealt with
individually. It is symbolic politics to think we can eliminate these problemsby collective measures. Moreover, such measures would penalize themajority o individuals who are responsible consumers o alcohol.
moderate drinkers
hazardous drinkers
harmful drinkers
{ALCOHOL CONSUMED}:{POPULATION}:
Depiction o the Pareto principle: 30% o all drinkers is responsible or 80%
o the total alcohol volume consumed (Source: University o Southampton;
presented by Nick Sheron at the conerence Alcohol and Health;
Amsterdam; 23 September 2010).
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The ve typologies presented in the campaign o Heineken.Their message: the character o the drinker causes the problem, not the beer.
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MESSAGE 4
IGNORE THE FACT THAT ALCOHOL IS A
HARMFUL AND ADDICTIVE CHEMICAL
SUBSTANCE (ETHANOL) FOR THE BODY.
The image communicated by the industry:Alcohol is a tasty drink that is prepared with cratsmanship; the natural origino beer counts, wine is particularly benecial or body and spirit, and withliquor, the age-long tradition guarantees the quality.
Explanation:The industry does not draw attention to the act that alcohol
(ethanol) is a detrimental, toxic, carcinogenic and addictive
substance that is oreign to the body. Alcohol as a product is
advertised as health promoting. Chemically, alcohol is a hard
druga substance harmul to the body, which like heroin,
can cause physical and mental dependence. The reality o
the negative health eects is in direct contradiction to the
industrys depiction o the consumer as responsible, social,
happy and celebrating lie with alcohol.
Alcohol is carcinogenicIn February, 2007, 26 scientists rom 15 countries met at the
International Agency or Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon,
France to reassess the carcinogenicity o alcoholic beverages
and o ethyl carbamate (urethane), a requent contaminant o
ermented oods and beverages. No sae limit o alcohol use has
been identied in relation with cancer. These assessments will
be published as volume 96 o the IARC Monographs.1 (Baan et
al. 2007).
Website Alcohol and Health inBelgium. Knowledge Institute Beerin the NetherlandsThe website www.bierengezondheid.be (on beer and health)
claims to be a unique website that brings together all the
available scientic inormation about the eects o beer on
health, through a single platorm. The website spotlights
international scientic research concerning the eects o
moderate beer consumption on health, an area that has
attracted growing interest in recent years.
The website is nanced by the proessional ederation the Belgian
Brewers, who are eager to inorm visitors about the health
benets o moderate beer consumption.
In the Netherlands, the beer producers launched the so-called
Knowledge Institute Beer. This institute suggests scientic
objectivity. Pro. Dr. Arne Astrup, board member: I joined the
board o the Dutch Beer Knowledge Institute because I elt it is an
interesting topic to work with health eects o a moderate beerconsumption. (http://www.kennisinstituutbier.nl/bestuur)
Pro. M. Katan (Free University o Amsterdam): It is legitimate
that brewers want to improve the image o beer, but scientists
should not take part in this kind o actions.
(Source: Dutch national newspaper Trouw, 3 October 2010).
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This key messagewas ormulated in theso-called Dublin Principles in 1997by the International Centre orAlcohol Policy (www.ICAP.org), aninternational lobby organisation othe alcohol industry:
To increase knowledge about alcoholin all its aspects, the academic andscientifc communities should be reeto work together with the beveragealcohol industry, governments, andnongovernmental organizations.
Explanation:Meanwhile, many experts realize that cooperation with thealcohol industry does not provide solutions. Unortunately,
experts have come to this conclusion ater wasting an inordinate
amount o time discussing ineective projects or measures.
Indeed, an eective European-, national- or local-level alcohol
policy requires a marked reduction in alcohol consumption and,
obviously, that is not what the industry wants. Good, eective
policies to combat alcohol consumption would require a higher
excise-duty, no marketing or sponsoring, an increase in the
drinking age to 18, a prohibition o the illegitimate sale o alcohol,
and an increase, through a campaign, in the publics awareness
o the damages that alcohol can cause (Babor et al, 2010; WHO,
2009).
But, the reality is that the industry is prot-driven and only thinks
in terms o increased sales, which means, increased consumption.
Prot and the interest o their shareholders weigh heaviest. Their
alternative message is: It is not necessary to drink less alcohol but
to drink it dierently.
Partnership Activities
in Scotland
The Scottish Alcohol Industry promotes the view that thegovernment and health bodies should work in partnership with
the industry suggesting that there is a common purpose. Thus,
the undamental conict o interest that exists between bodies
who wish to see alcohol policy ormulated by public health
interests and trade bodies who depend on maximum volume sales
to maintain prot levels is not acknowledged. In Scotland, the
industry successully negotiated an alcohol industry partnership
initiative with Ministers that enabled a Diageo employee to
be seconded to the governments Alcohol Policy team or two
years. In addition, the industry partnership created Scotlands
rst Alcohol Awareness Week (AAW) the main ocus o which isthe provision o publicity material containing inormation about
responsible drinking.
Source: Evelyn Gillan rom the Scottish Health Action on Alcohol
Problems (SHAAP; 2009).
MESSAGE 5
ALCOHOL PROBLEMS CAN ONLY BE SOLVED
WHEN ALL PARTIES WORK TOGETHER.
The image communicated by the industry:We can only solve alcohol problems together. We (the industry) eel greatlyresponsible or what can go wrong with our product and would gladly helpto prevent adverse eects. Thereore we need to cooperate at all levels.The government, health institutions, and the industry need to join orcesto reach the best common approach.
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Membership in political
working groups in FinlandBesides lobbying, ofcial hearings and unofcial contacts to
decision makers, the alcohol industry has recently ound a new, armore eective way to inuence the orthcoming policy changes.
Representatives o the alcohol industry and other branches o
business that benet rom alcohol consumption have played an
inuential role in various political working groups.
Alcohol marketing working group (established by the Ministry
o Social Aairs and Health): Four out o six members where
representatives o alcohol-related business.
Working group o warning labels (established by the Ministry o
Social Aairs and Health): Three out o six members o the team
were representatives o alcohol-related business.
Working group on alcohol marketing restrictions (established
by the Ministry o Social Aairs and Health): Four out o nine
members o the group were representatives o alcohol-related
business.
Source: Anki Pulliainen, Friends o Temperance /Boozerebellion;
Finland; www.kannikapina./english; 2009.
Partnership in Ghanaand other Arican countries:In Arica, weve been working with governments, public health
experts and non-government organisations to develop national
alcohol policies to reduce alcohol-related harm. (SABMILLER)
http://www.sabmiller.com/index.asp?pageid=1156
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Explanation:Meanwhile, research has indisputably demonstrated that
alcohol advertisements are both attractive to young people and
stimulate their drinking behaviour (Anderson et al., 2009: Science
Group o the Alcohol and Health Forum; 2009). Yet the industry
continues to atly and publicly deny that advertising stimulates
alcohol consumption (Bond et al; 2009). As a result o seeing
attractive advertisements or positive image building through
sponsorship young people begin to drink earlier in lie. Whats
more, young people who already drink will drink more as a result
o advertisements.
Just deny scienceAter the Science Group o the Alcohol and Health Forum o the
European Commission presented its 2009 report on the impact o
alcohol marketing, the industry outright denied its conclusions.
No wonder, since the conclusions conrmed that alcohol
marketing inuences the drinking behaviour o young people.
ICAP (international lobby organisation o the alcohol industry)
was represented in the Science Group but they immediately
stated that ICAP was not responsible or the conclusions o the
Science Group.
Source: Dutch national newspaper Trouw, March 12th 2009.
Marketing only inuences
the choice or a brandHelmut Wagner, director-general o the ormer Amsterdam Group
(TAG), the European organisation o the alcohol branche: Those
campaigns (advertisements) make the brand well-known, but
do not incite young people to drink alcohol. First they decide
that they want to drink something alcoholic, once in the store
they choose or the Breezer, because they have heard about it
in advertisements (Advertisement Magazine Adormatie, The
Netherlands; 2004).
The Swedish alcohol industry: newguidelines to prevent legislationFreedom o marketing is essential or the alcohol industry. Any
attack rom a government to restrict marketing is oten answered
by the industry with a serious oer to sharpen the existing sel
regulations. In 2009 the Swedish government wanted to restrict
the volume o alcohol advertising. The Brewers o Sweden
immediately launched improved guidelines concerning marketing
and alcoholic beverages. This is their way o showing that they
are a responsible stakeholder in this issue, since they have
been proactive and have set up codes o conducts voluntarily,
and thereore they are able to take the responsibility to sel-
regulate themselves (quote o IOGT, Sweden; 2009). Also in the
Netherlands the industry always responds with a sharpening o
the code, ater a possible marketing restriction initiated by the
government. Close reading o the text o the new sel regulation
articles showed that many times a so called sharpening happened
to be a clever way to make the regulations even more liberal.
Adjustments in the sel-regulation codes have proven to be
eective strategies in postponing (eective) statutory regulations
(quote o STAP, the Netherlands, 2009).
MESSAGE 6
ALCOHOL MARKETING IS NOT HARMFUL.
IT IS SIMPLY INTENDED TO ASSIST THE
CONSUMER IN SELECTING A CERTAIN
PRODUCT OR BRAND.
The image communicated by the industry:Advertisements do not make people drink more. Advertisements
simply assist the consumer in choosing the best brand. In order toprevent a small group o producers or retailers rom marketing indecentadvertisements, we, the industry, have established eective rules.This system o sel-regulation works globally and has excellent results.
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MESSAGE 7
EDUCATION ABOUT RESPONSIBLE USE IS
THE BEST METHOD TO PROTECT SOCIETY
FROM ALCOHOL PROBLEMS
The image communicated by the industry:We as an industry eel partly responsible or certain problems which ariseas a result o the abuse o our products. Thus, abuse o alcohol productsmust be ought and we will gladly contribute to this eort. We have the
resources to persuade individuals to use our products responsibly and arewilling to commit time and money to this eort. We invite Governmentsand institutions to make use o our experience.
Explanation:Recently the alcohol industry has elt pressured, and
hence threatened, by calls or government to increase its
attention to combat the problems that arise rom alcohol
consumption. Eective measures such as a higher alcohol
excise-duty, establishing minimum prices, higher age limits and
advertisement restrictions can reduce alcohol related harm and
will thereore decrease the prots o the industry (Babor, 2003;
Babor, 2010). The industry thereore does its best to persuade
governments, politicians, and policy makers that the above
mentioned measures would have no eect, are only symbolic in
nature or are illegitimate. They claim that it is unair that the large
majority o responsible drinkers must suer rom measures that
are only intended to impact a minority o abusers.
The industry argues that it has a better alternativethat raising
awareness and providing inormation are the best weapons in
the ght against alcohol abuse. However, based on scientic
research, proessionals are convinced that education alone
will not change individuals drinking habits (Giesbrecht, 2007;
Gordon et al., 2006). According to the industry, responsible
drinking needs to be promoted more strongly. In the meantime
the industry has set up many goodwill campaigns (Corporate
Social Responsibility) to show that they have aith in this new
approach. Unortunately, there are many naive politicians who
are impressed by the industrys campaign and believe that this
will sufce.
Lobby or ineective
measures in ScotlandEvelyn Gillan rom the Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems
(SHAAP, 2009): The lobby o the Scotch Whisky Association
(SWA), which is chaired by Diageos UK Managing Director and the
UK-based Wine and Spirits Trade Association (WSTA), encourages
policy makers to concentrate on ineective policies such as
education and responsible drinking campaigns and to steer them
away rom more eective policies such as controls on price and
availability.
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REFERENCES
Anderson, P., Hastings, G., Angus, K., de Bruijn, A. (2009). Impact
o alcohol advertising and media exposure on adolescent alcohol
use: a systematic review o longitudinal studies. Alcohol and Alco-
holism, published online, January 14, 1-15.
Anderson, P., Chisholm, D., & Fuhr, D.C. (2009a). Eectiveness
and cost-eectiveness o policies and programmes to reduce the
harm caused by alcohol. The Lancet, 373, 223446.
Baan, R., K. Strai, Y. Grosse, B. Secretan, F. El Ghissassi, V. Bou-
vard, A. Altieri, V.Cogliano; (on behal o the WHO International
Agency or Research on Cancer Monograph Working Group);
Carcinogenicity o alcoholic beverages; Thelancet.com Vol 8 April
2007.
Babor, T. Caetano, R., Casswel, S., Edwars, G., Giesbrecht, N.,
Graham, K. et. al. (2003). Alcohol: no ordinary commodity.
Research and public policy. Oxord: University Press
Babor, T. Caetano, R., Casswel, S., Edwars, G., Giesbrecht, N.,
Graham, K. et. al. (2010). Alcohol: no ordinary commodity.
Research and public policy. Second edition. Oxord: University
Press.
Baumberg, B. How Will Alcohol Sales in the UK Be Aected I
Drinkers Follow Government Guidelines? Alcohol and Alcoholism
(2009) 44 (5): 523-528.
Bond, L., Daube, M., Chikritzhs, T. Selling addictions: Similarities
in approaches between Big Tobacco and Big Booze. AMJ 2010, 3,
6, 325-332
Bond, L., Daube, M., Chikritzhs, T. Access to Condential Alcohol
Industry Documents: From Big Tobacco to Big Booze. Austral-
asian Medical Journal 2009, 1, 3, 1-26
Engels, R.C.M.E., Hermans, R., Van Baaren, R.B., Hollenstein, T.,
& Bot, S.M. (2009). Alcohol Portrayal on Television Aects Actual
Drinking Behaviour. Alcohol & Alcoholism, 44, 244-249.
Giesbrecht N (2007), Reducing alcohol-related damage in popula-
tions: rethinking the roles o education and persuasion interven-
tions, Addiction, 102, 13451349
Gordon R., McDermott L., Stead M., Angus, K. (2006) The eec-
tiveness o social marketing or health improvement: Whats the
evidence?, Public Health 120;1133-1139
http://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article2052218.ece/Be-
wezen__reclame_zet_aan_tot_drinken_.html
Johansen D, Grnbk M, Overvad K, Schnohr P, Andersen P.
Generalized additive models applied to analysis o the relation
between amount and type o alcohol and all-cause mortality.
European journal o epidemiology 2005;20(1):29-36.
Jones L., James M., Jeerson T., Lushey C., et al. (2007). A review o
the eectiveness and cost-eectiveness o interventions delivered
in primary and secondary schools to prevent and/or reduce alco-
hol use by young people under 18 years old. Alcohol and schools:
review o eectiveness and cost-eectiveness. NICE: Main report
(PHIAC 14.3a).
Meier et al., (2008). The independent review o the eects o
alcohol pricing and promotion. Summary o Evidence to Accom-
pany Report on Phase 1: Systematic Reviews. School o Health and
Related Research, University o Shefeld, UK.
Michaels, D. (2008). Doubt is their product: How industrys as-
sault on science threatens your health. Oxord university Press:
UK.
Rehm, J., H.Irving, Y.Ye, W.C. Kerr, J. Bond, T.K. Greeneld.
Are Lietime Abstainers the Best Control Group in Alcohol Epide-
miology? On the Stability and Validity o Reported Lietime Ab-
stention; In Practice o Epidemiology; Vol 168; no; 2008. P 866-871.
Scientic Opinion o the Science Group o the European Alcohol
and Health Forum; European Commission; 2009. Does marketing
communication impact on the volume and patterns o consump-
tion o alcoholic beverages, especially by young people? - a review
o longitudinal studies (http://www.eurocare.org/library/latest_
news/alcohol_advertising_inuences_adolescents_alcohol_con-
sumption_concludes_science_group_o_alcohol_and_health_o-
rum)
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WHO. Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004. Geneva: World
Health Organization; 2004 [cited 2009 July 22]. Available rom:
http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_sta-
tus_report_2004_overview.pd
World Health Organization (2007). WHO Technical Report Series
944. WHO expert committee on problems related to alcohol
consumption.
World Health Organization (WHO, 2009). Handbook or action to
reduce alcohol-related harm.
World Health Organization (WHO, 2009). Evidence or the e-
ectiveness and cost-eectiveness o interventions to reduce
alcohol-related harm.
Trouw, March 12th 2009. http://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article2052218.ece/Bewezen__reclame_zet_aan_tot_drinken_html
For readers who want to read a book with a historical overview
of successful industrial lobby we advise to read:
Doubt is Their Product: How Industrys Assault on Science
Threatens Your Health is a 2008 book by David Michaels,published by Oxord University Press.
Michaels argues that or decades cigarette manuactur-
ers knew that their product was hazardous to peoples
health, but they took necessary measures to protect their
prots.[1] The industry and its scientists manuactured
uncertainty by questioning every study, dissecting every
method, and disputing every conclusion.[1]
In doing so the tobacco industry waged a campaign that
successully delayed regulation and victim compensation
or decades.[1]
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The seven key messages of the alcohol industry
The seven key messages of the alcohol industry
is a product of a partnership of the following organizations
Addiction Ino Switzerland (Switzerland)
AV-OG-TIL (Norway)
Boozerebellion; Friends o Temperance (Finland)Deutsche Hauptstelle r Suchtragen (Germany)
Dutch Institute or Alcohol Policy (STAP, The Netherlands)
Eurocare Italia (Italy)
IOGT-NTO (Sweden)
Landsraadet (Denmark)
Marin Institute San Raael (USA)
State Agency or Prevention o Alcohol-Related Problems (PARPA; Poland)
Vereniging voor Alcohol en andere Drugproblemen (VAD; Belgi)
February 2011
Order address: [email protected]