Introduction by Croakey: Public health advocates are keeping a watchful eye on the promotion of unhealthy products at the Paris Olympics over the next few weeks.
Given Corona Cero, the zero alcohol variant of Corona beer, is the first beer sponsor of the Olympics, it is unlikely to be a challenge to find examples. Check this week’s ICYMI column for more examples.
Researchers at The George Institute for Global Health and Cancer Council have recently shown why advertising of zero alcohol products is concerning, particularly for young people, with many finding the ads appealing and potentially leading them to drink alcoholic products.
Below, Dr Leon Booth, Danica Keric and Julia Stafford call on the Federal Government to better regulate how alcohol branded products are marketed to protect the health of young Australians.
Leon Booth, Danica Keric and Julia Stafford write:
Young people find zero alcohol products appealing, some see them as a potential gateway to alcohol use, and these products are exposing many young people to additional alcohol marketing.
These are key findings in our new research published in the journal Appetite considering the potential impact of zero alcohol products on children and young people.
You will most likely have noticed the rapid rise in the prominence of zero alcohol products in recent years, including those that share branding with major alcohol brands. You have probably been greeted with a vast array of zero alcohol products in your local supermarket.
Appealing, non-alcoholic options can be a useful alternative to alcoholic products, particularly if they are available in contexts where alcohol is used.
But concerns are being raised about their potential for negative impacts on some people in our communities, including children and young people.
Others have previously considered how zero alcohol products may affect people dependent on alcohol, highlighting that zero alcohol products are “not without risk”. Researchers have also found that people with an alcohol use disorder experience increased cravings for alcohol when they use zero alcohol products.
Significant growth
We explored the experiences of young Australians aged 15 to 17 years with zero alcohol products and associated marketing.
Globally and in Australia, the market for zero alcohol products has increased significantly. The category grew by eight percent in volume each year between 2019 and 2023, and is predicted to continue growing by six percent annually between 2023 and 2027. Sometimes referred to as no- and low-alcohol, these are products that often look and taste like alcoholic products, but generally have less than 0.5% alcohol by volume.
Many zero alcohol products are produced and manufactured by large alcohol companies, and therefore share core branding features with alcoholic products.
This means that zero alcohol products can increase the visibility of alcohol brands. In Australia, zero alcohol products are available from a wide range of outlets including supermarkets and convenience stores that do not typically sell alcoholic products.
The potential risks and benefits of zero alcohol products is of increasing interest to public health researchers. To help contribute to building the picture of potential impacts on communities, we wanted to better understand what young people think about zero alcohol products.
We ran a series of online focus groups and an online survey with young Australians aged 15 to 17 years; 44 young people participated in the focus groups and 679 completed the survey.
There was an even split among people who identified as males and females, and survey participants were largely recruited from New South Wales (31%), Victoria (23%), Western Australia (18%), Queensland (18%), and South Australia (8%); a small proportion were from Tasmania (1%), the ACT (1%) and the Northern Territory (1%).
Potential risks
Over half of the young people surveyed believed that zero alcohol products looked appealing (56%) and that the packaging was attractive (54%). When asked about age groups that zero alcohol products would appeal to, young people most commonly selected their own age group of 14-17 years (42%).
Some young people in the focus groups identified that zero alcohol products could potentially act as a gateway to alcohol use by allowing younger people to become accustomed to the taste of alcohol.
One 15-16-year-old male said, “I feel the zero alcohol beverages like non-alcoholic beers kind of get younger people hooked on it, and then when they turn 18, they might start drinking beer.” This is concerning when you consider that more than one-third of the surveyed adolescents had used zero alcohol products.
Parents, public health organisations, and public health researchers have already raised concerns about the potential gateway effect. This is the first time young people have also done so, in a peer-reviewed study.
Most of the young people we surveyed (76%) reported seeing advertising for zero alcohol products. Of those who saw advertising for zero alcohol products, 44 percent saw ads on TV, 38 percent on social media, 31 percent at an alcohol retailer, 30 percent online, and 29 percent in supermarkets. Most also recalled seeing zero alcohol products for sale (80%).
Unhealthy marketing
A key public health concern is that zero alcohol products may provide additional marketing opportunities for promoting alcohol brands in places and contexts that alcoholic products cannot be promoted in.
For example, the Olympic Games will see Corona Cero (the zero alcohol variant of Corona beer) become the first-ever global beer sponsor of the Olympics. In addition, ads for zero alcohol products have purposely encouraged drinkers to “do all the things they usually couldn’t with a beer in hand”, including driving, swimming, and operating heavy machinery.
Our policymakers need to listen to young people’s voices.
This is one of the first pieces of research to ask young people for their thoughts about and experiences with zero alcohol products.
It is clear from this research that young people are drinking zero alcohol products and they are telling us that these products are appealing, have highly visible marketing, and could act as a gateway to alcohol use.
It is also clear that we need to do more to protect children from exposure to zero alcohol marketing.
Cancer Council has called on the Federal Government to better regulate how alcohol branded products are marketed to protect the health of young Australians, and to pay close attention to how zero alcohol products provide additional marketing opportunities for alcohol companies.
Our policymakers owe it to young people to listen to their voices when considering policy responses to zero alcohol products.
About the authors
Dr Leon Booth is a Research Fellow in the Food Policy Team at The George Institute for Global Health, with training in behavioural and cognitive psychology. His work is primarily concerned with understanding how individual and environmental factors affect people’s health-related behaviours.
Booth’s focus is on producing translational research findings that can inform public health policies and interventions to improve health outcomes. He has expertise in several areas related to public health, including alcohol use, messaging strategies, policy evaluation, dietary behaviours, physical activity, gambling, and autonomous vehicles. Booth received his PhD in 2021 and holds a Bachelor of Psychology (first class honours).
Danica Keric is Alcohol Policy and Research Senior Coordinator at Cancer Council Western Australia. She has over 10 years of experience in public health policy and research contributing to preventing harm from alcohol among communities.
Julia Stafford is Alcohol Program Manager at Cancer Council Western Australia and Deputy Chair of Cancer Council’s National Nutrition Alcohol and Physical Activity Committee. Her research focus is on alcohol policy and strategies to prevent harm from alcohol.
See Croakey’s extensive archive of articles on the commercial determinants of health.
