Big Alcohol Exposed Annual Report 2024 has indicted and criticized multinational alcohol corporations for making and promoting products and practices that cause devastating health, social and economic harms. The report insists that the corporations prioritize their image and profits over public health and accountability, stressing that countries must act urgently to save the people from the many harms of alcohol consumption
By Edu Abade
Indications have emerged that multinational alcohol corporations have been deploying tactics that majorly prioritize their image and profits over public health and accountability with a view to ensuring market dominance through its ‘dubious five’ tactics of deception, manipulation, political interference, promotions and sabotage on a global scale.
Funded and documented by the Movendi International and RESET Alcohol Initiative and titled: Big Alcohol Exposed Annual Report 2024, it explained that these strategies became increasingly sophisticated and pervasive, with the alcohol industry leveraging them to deflect criticism, shape public opinion and determine what people think about their products.
The report, which examined key examples of the dubious five strategies, exposed how Big Alcohol deployed misinformation, co-opted narratives and targeted lobbying to undermine and block health promotion initiatives, while insisting that the industry also ensures that it causes maximum harm to policy solutions and obstructs evidence-based alcohol policy initiatives.
From creating misleading health claims to funding deceptive prevention programmes, the alcohol industry’s efforts reveal a relentless prioritization of profit over people’s health and community wellbeing.
It also documented how Big Alcohol deploys economic claims to obstruct and derail alcohol policy initiatives. For example, in Uganda, the alcohol industry managed to destroy the Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill by promoting questionable claims that it would lead to job losses.
The Big Alcohol lobby framed their economic contributions as essential to the country’s prosperity, a misleading and false narrative that deflected attention from the devastating health, social and economic costs of alcohol harm.
“This case reflects a global trend in 2024: the alcohol industry systematically deploys claims economic influence, relentless lobbying, and misleading narratives to block lifesaving policies such as raising alcohol taxes, lower the presence of alcohol outlets in communities and protect people from alcohol advertising.
“From Sports to Screens-Exposing Big Alcohol’s Predatory Practices, serves as an exposé and a call to action. By documenting and exposing these harmful strategies and presenting real-world examples, the report provides a clear roadmap to counteract Big Alcohol’s influence and advance policies that save lives,” the report added.
As concrete evidence, the report offers documented case studies in Uganda, Brazil, Mexico, Germany and the United States, among other countries that demonstrate the scale of Big Alcohol’s political interference, while exposing patterns of alcohol industry behavior that transgresses borders and exposing a coordinated effort to normalize alcohol and block public health measures.
It stated that policymakers, advocates and communities now have the tools and evidence needed to identify and counter latest Big Alcohol narratives and implement effective solutions, adding that by documenting and exposing the industry’s activities, the report aims to expose the predatory practices behind the alcohol industry’s veneer of responsibility and highlight the urgent need for stronger safeguards against interference.
The report further clarified that in 2024, major alcohol industry strategies included the normalization of alcohol through sports sponsorships, misleading health claims, greenwashing environmental impacts and leveraging non-alcoholic product lines to build loyalty with alcoholic brands.
“These tactics not only obscure alcohol’s inherent risks but also seek to embed the alcohol industry as an indispensable part of society. Big Alcohol continues to use economic power to pollute policy environments and discourses often creating dependency relationships that hinder governments from implementing effective alcohol solutions.
“This underscores the urgent need for action to protect health and wellbeing. Exposing, counteracting, and protecting public health is a wake-up call. By infiltrating trusted spaces “from sports to screens,” Big Alcohol has found increasingly sophisticated ways to target young people and other vulnerable groups, manipulate public perception, and derail health promotion initiative.
“This report exposes these predatory practices, equips advocates with evidence and calls on governments to act. It is time to challenge alcohol industry influence, reclaim public health priorities, and protect communities from the harm caused by the products and practices of the alcohol industry,” it concluded.
Executive summary of the Big Alcohol Exposed Annual Report 2024 subtitled: From Sports to Screens: Exposing Big Alcohol’s Predatory Practices in 2024, provides a detailed analysis of the alcohol industry’s worldwide activities and reveals the extent and penetration of Big Alcohol interference against people’s health, evidence-based public policy, as well as healthy and inclusive societal norms.
It exposes the predatory practices deployed by Big Alcohol in the past year, to protect and promote its profits, expand markets, and undermine lives saving alcohol policy measures, adding: “The products and practices of multinational alcohol corporations cause devastating health, social and economic harms and this report shines a light on Big Alcohol’s track record in 2024.
“It equally highlights the key themes, trends and case studies that define the alcohol industry’s operations in 2024, offering a roadmap for advocates and policymakers to address these challenges,” the report stressed.
Key Highlights of the 2024 report revealed that the alcohol industry deploys aggressive strategies to prioritize their own profits over people’s health by targeting vulnerable populations, resisting evidence-based alcohol policy and promoting harmful myths about their products’ benefits. The report provides shocking examples of strategies such as health-washing, deceitful marketing, and political interference that have been central elements of Big Alcohol’s playbook in 2024.
Another disturbing aspect of the survey is the use of advanced data-driven marketing practices and targeted campaigns increasingly focus on Generation Z, embedding alcohol brands into social and digital spaces frequented by young people.
“This includes the use of influencers, apps and streaming platforms to bypass regulatory frameworks and normalize alcohol among the young generation. This year’s case stories document how Big Alcohol uses misinformation, industry-funded research and co-opted prevention programmes to deflect scrutiny and obscure its role in driving and perpetuating harm.
“From promoting the debunked J-curve myth, to funding school-based programmes in Spain, Big Alcohol continues to prioritize its image over people’s health and public accountability,” it added.
Promoters of the report urged countries to take urgent action against Big Alcohol tactics the safeguard their public health, maintaining that the findings in the report underscore the urgency of countering Big Alcohol’s harmful practices.
“Public health advocates, researchers, and policymakers must remain vigilant in exposing these tactics and advancing evidence-based policies to protect communities and societies from alcohol harm.
“Big Alcohol Exposed Annual Report 2024 “From Sports to Screens: Exposing Big Alcohol’s Predatory Practices in 2024” aims to empower such efforts and initiatives by providing critical insights and resources to identify and expose Big Alcohol’s interest and tactics, address conflicts of interest and curb the alcohol industry’s influence to promote healthier and more equitable societies,” it concluded.
