Alcohol Review – Issue 111, March 10th 2025
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In this issue: Invitation: Join us at Alcohol Review 2025, March 20th News: Tax cut ahead of Aus election; Indian ad clampdown; 0.0 loophole campaign; Canada’s bourbon blockade; Breakup drinking; Beer and sandwiches and more… Briefing: AR2025 Spotlight session overview, so far Opinion: The case for pure free time hedonism
Invitation
Alcohol Review 2025 March 20th, live online; Other sessions now available Winning the narrative, sharing the benefits. Please join us for exciting live sessions from acclaimed author of Dark PR, Grant Ennis, and UK public health leader Alice Wiseman. They will mark the launch of a growing collection of compelling recorded sessions from around the world, with contributions already from Alcohol Health Alliance UK, George Institute, European Consumers, and many more to come. Full subscribers can watch them already. Please check out this unfolding online event and join us.
News
Aussie rules: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese temporarily halted raising draught beer tax in line with inflation in the runup to a general election due by May. Separately, the country’s northern territory decided to scrap the minimum alcohol price, to the alarm of health advocates.
Not cricket: India's Union Healthy Ministry told the country’s top cricket league to ban all forms of alcohol and tobacco promotions, including surrogate advertisements, during the tournament beginning March 22, 2025.
0.0 campaign: Campaigners are urging Ireland’s government to close the loophole allowing the advertising of zero-alcohol drinks at sports events, using the catchline “close the l0.0phole”.
Bourbon blockade: Canada’s provincial governors are standing firm on stripping US alcohol products from shops despite US President Donal Trump suspending 25% tariffs. The reprieve is meant to end on April 2nd. Blocking bourbon sales is thought to be particularly persuasive because it is produced in heavily Trump supporting states.
Canada drier: The volume of alcohol sold in Canada fell by nearly 4% year-on-year last year 2023/2024, the largest volume decline ever recorded since Statistics Canada began tracking alcohol sales in 1949. Prices rose around 2.5%.
Beer and sandwiches: UK supermarket Sainsbury’s has begun selling alcohol-free beer as part of its lunchtime discount lunch deal. Critics say it will promote alcohol brands, normalise work time beer drinking and trigger alcohol cravings in people trying to cut down. Others fear a woeful breach of etiquette.?
Harmful consolation: Marriage breakups were found to increase the chance of regular drinking by 5%, a study of 13,000 Australians found. Women were more likely to increase regular drinking at the time of separation compared to men and their elevated consumption was more likely to persist.
Second-hand harm: The majority of Sri Lankan women have experienced problems because of the alcohol consumption of others,? said a survey from the country’s Alcohol and Drug Information Centre. And nearly two-thirds said they thought women’s rights are being violated when alcohol companies use women to promote their products,
Policy nearer: Cambodia is set to move a step closer to having a comprehensive alcohol policy this month with a white paper expected on March 24.
Driving warning: Warning messages about the risk of driving under the influence of alcohol will be displayed on the packaging of alcoholic drinks[in Korea, health officials said last month.
Briefing: Spotlight sessions so far - full videos viewable for subscribers
Drones, robots and self-driving vending machines are likely to be used in alcohol delivery. Leon Booth from the George Institute explains how this might impact public health. Mary Madden from London Metropolitan University outlines research on the need to reset the alcohol brief intervention paradigm, called “Brief Interventions 2.0”. Asad Yusoff of the institute explains how “better for you” claims are used to market alcohol brands with dubious health claims. Alex Barker of Derby University explains how 818 Tequila branding sidesteps the rules in the "The Kardashians" TV show. The University of Victoria’s Andrea Cowan and Priya Johal explain the nuts and bolts of their newly launched KnowAlcohol website.?
Opinion
The case for pure free time hedonism Resolving to cut back on alcohol, saving money and exercising are laudable goals, but not always compelling in themselves. We could take leaf out of the advertisers’ handbook book and look for activities which deliver the feelings and sensations we want. ■