Seven Key Messages

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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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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]

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