Regulating Alcohol Marketing on Social Media: Outcomes and Limitations of Marketing Restrictions of Finland’s 2015 Alcohol Act

The alcohol advertising ban in Norway: Effects on recorded alcohol sales

“…social media, internet blogs, games) and currently, the reported violations of the ban appear to occur mainly on social media [16]. This may reflect that it is difficult to disentangle commercial advertising messages and user‐generated content on social media [17,18], and hence, that enforcement is particularly difficult and challenging in this regard. Thus, it is claimed, for instance by the Norwegian Breweries Association [19], that enforcement of the ban on social media is lacking completely, which seems parallel to recent experiences in Finland [18].…”

“…This may reflect that it is difficult to disentangle commercial advertising messages and user‐generated content on social media [17,18], and hence, that enforcement is particularly difficult and challenging in this regard. Thus, it is claimed, for instance by the Norwegian Breweries Association [19], that enforcement of the ban on social media is lacking completely, which seems parallel to recent experiences in Finland [18]. Thus, further efforts to strengthen the enforcement therefore seem to be particularly important in ensuring that the advertising ban is also effective on social media.…”

The new project of public health

“…An evaluation of the act, in which we inquired into the particular dimensions of prevalence of the forbidden elements, showed almost no legal trespassing among Finnish alcohol beverage companies, or among their Swedish counterparts either (Katainen et al, 2018;Katainen et al, 2020;Lindeman et al, 2019). It is good to remember that both of these countries have histories of strict alcohol policies including high taxes and retail monopolies.…”

Under the radar: Harmful industries’ digital marketing to Australian children

“…• although sponsored advertisements in social media are permitted, the advertiser should ensure that they are targeted at people of legal drinking age -although in practice all the brands' Instagram posts and half of Facebook sites for the brands remain unrestricted to under-18s. 124 Valvira has no resources for monitoring, but evidence suggests there has been some impact on brands' own social media content. 125 This could be reflective of more strategic use of the platforms -so it is unclear how much children's actual exposure to alcohol advertising has decreased, if at all.…”

“…124 Valvira has no resources for monitoring, but evidence suggests there has been some impact on brands' own social media content. 125 This could be reflective of more strategic use of the platforms -so it is unclear how much children's actual exposure to alcohol advertising has decreased, if at all. However, the legislation does demonstrate that action is possible.…”