Alcohol Advertising Specifically Targeted at Minors Is Rare, Yet They Are Widely Exposed to It
In parallel with the Monitor on Children’s Marketing for Food Products, Panteia conducted an Alcohol Marketing Monitor in 2023. This study examined how young people under 18 in The Netherlands may encounter advertising for alcoholic beverages and their non-alcoholic variants. The findings suggest that alcohol producers are cautious about targeting minors with advertisements. However, underage individuals are still frequently exposed to alcohol advertising through media and their environment.
Strict regulations have been established under the Media Act and the Advertising Code for alcohol advertising. For instance, alcohol brands are prohibited from airing TV and radio ads before 9:00 p.m. and must enforce age restrictions for online advertisements. These rules are generally well adhered to.
Influencers and Loopholes in Current Laws and Regulations
Despite these measures, minors are still exposed to significant levels of deliberate and incidental alcohol promotion, for instance on social media. On the one hand, alcohol is often featured as part of the daily lives of vloggers, who appear unpaid in photos or videos with beer or wine. This "incidental" content indirectly promotes specific brands and normalises alcohol consumption, including excessive drinking. On the other hand, some popular influencers are deliberately chosen to front advertising campaigns. It is not always clearly disclosed that the content is promotional.
In addition to influencer-related issues, the study highlights other concerns regarding alcohol advertising:
- The rule that prohibits alcohol advertising in media where 25% or more of the audience is underage does not prevent large groups of minors—sometimes between 100,000 and 200,000—from being exposed to such content.
- The restriction on alcohol advertising before 9:00 p.m. does not apply to online media or sponsorships. Given that online platforms and major sponsored sporting events are particularly appealing to young people, this loophole is significant.
The Alcohol Marketing Monitor was conducted for the first time in 2023 and will continue in 2024.
You can access the full report (in Dutch) here.
