When researchers have proven that tobacco marketing icreases smoking and that food marketing icreases young peoples food intake and in some cases obesity, it is not strange to debate wheteher there is a relationship between alchol marketing and peoples drinking habits.
The purely chemical effect from alcohol look the same in all cultures: a stunning of the body leading to involuntary actions such as tripping, dropping things, vomit, talk faltering or falling asleep. However research shows that a large part of the experience surrounding intoxication is not created by the drug itself but by anticipation, interaction and atmosphere. It is the expectation of feeling elated, uninhibited, sad or relaxed that determines whether intoxication feeling arises. That is, the intoxication is a social construction. Alcohol industry marketing reinforces the social construction through the use of stereotypes and myths about the effects of alcohol. They fatten hence the peer pressure that creates expectant fill.
Alcohol advertising is the advertising of alcoholic beverages. Along with tobacco advertising, it is the most regulated form of marketing.
In Sweden, alcohol advertising has been banned since the early 1970s [2]. However, with the loophole for the advertising of light beer.
The EU health ministers adopted conclusions on alcohol and health in 2009, which are more stringent than before. They stated that alcohol increases the likelihood that children and young people start drinking and those who are already using alcohol drink even more. They also say that to improve the implementation of the rules on marketing that currently exists in Member States and at EU level, and they urge the European Commission to do more to protect young people from alcohol marketing. (3)
Self-regulation means that it is the industry itself that monitors if they follow the rules and guidelines that they themselves, and the EU / each member country, sat. In Europe this is a widespread phenomenon and a method that obviously encouraged by the alcohol industry. The case for self-regulation is that the industry considers themselves to be the ones that have the best knowledge in the field, the costs are low and the system is flexible. But there are several weaknesses in the system of self-regulation.
2 ^ Alfredsson, Björn; Berndt, Roland; Harlén, Hans. Stockholm Under 50 år - 100 stationer. Brombergs. sid. 198. ISBN 91-7608-832-4
3 http://iogt.se/wp-content/uploads/slutsatser-om-alkohol-och-h%C3%A4lsa.pdf
Area 6. Marketing1
of alcoholic beverages
29. Reducing the impact of marketing, particularly on young people and adolescents, is an important consideration in reducing harmful use of alcohol. Alcohol is marketed through increasingly sophisticated advertising and promotion techniques, including linking alcohol brands to sports and cultural activities, sponsorships and product