(Ir)responsible drinking campaigns

Pettigrew, Simone; Daube, Mike; Biagioni, Nicole

doi:10.5694/mja14.00382

Topics

To the Editor: The alcohol industry invests in “responsible drinking” advertisements purportedly designed to meet corporate social responsibility objectives. Analysts have proposed that such advertising is used to avoid alcohol control measures and in effect constitutes alcohol promotion.1,2,3,4

Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA.

Correspondence: simone.pettigrew@curtin.edu.au

Acknowledgements:

This study was funded by a research grant awarded by the Western Australian Drug and Alcohol Office.

Competing interests: No relevant disclosures.

1. Babor TF, Robaina K. Public health, academic medicine, and the alcohol industry's corporate social responsibility activities. Am J Public Health 2013; 103: 206-214.
2. McCambridge J, Kypri K, Miller P, et al. Be aware of Drinkaware. Addiction 2014; 109: 519-524.
3. Pantani D, Sparks R, Sanchez ZM, Pinsky I. ‘Responsible drinking' programs and the alcohol industry in Brazil: killing two birds with one stone? Soc Sci Med 2012; 75: 1387-1391.
4. Yoon S, Lam TH. The illusion of righteousness: corporate social responsibility practices of the alcohol industry. BMC Public Health 2013; 13: 630.
5. National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol. Canberra: NHMRC, 2009.

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