That’s because underage drinkers have been able to access bev/al advertising on social media, as a story in this morning\s Wall Street Journal demonstrates. Sweden is considering banning alcohol ads on social media, following a total ad ban in Lithuania. Thailand is considering similar restrictions, according to the Journal. You can be sure that by this afternoon anti-alcohol advocates will be calling for such a ban in the U.S.
The Journal documented easy access to social media bev/al ads by setting up a fake underage account that was able to follow the global or U.S. accounts of brands including Anheuser-Busch InBev SA’s Budweiser and Stella Artois, Pernod Ricard‘s Absolut Elyx vodka, Diageo‘s Guinness beer and Sazerac Co.’s Fireball whiskey, most with more than 100,000 follows. Instagram’s algorithm then suggested the Journal’s underage account follow other booze-related profiles.
David Jurnigan, a long-time anti-alcohol advocate whose academic research has focused on advertising seen by underage drinkers, notes social-media marketing “readily transcends national borders and (that) makes national-level approaches difficult.”
A total ban on social media advertising would have a significant impact on bev/al sales. For at least some producers, social media represents one-third of total advertising. For an indication of just how significant a total ban could be, consider that fact that the growth surge for distilled spirits in the U.S. began only after its producers ended a self-imposed ban on TV advertising.
To add to the challenge, big bev/al companies may not be able to put the genie back in the bottle. A recent Forbes.com piece noted that monthly Google searches for Budweiser, Miller and Coors fall shockingly far below searches for even relatively obscure brands. This includes the practically unknown Puppers Premium Lager, only available in Ontario and based on a Canadian TV series distributed by Hulu. Of the three landmark domestic lagers, Bud ranks last with 5400 searches per month. Miller receives the most, with 8100, and Coors comes in the middle with 6600. Puppers boasts 14,800.
Unless a way is found to impose age-restrictions on brands such as Puppers, big bev/al advertisers may not be able to stench a push for a total ban from social media advertising.
And there’s one other problem with social media: Influencers. For at least some influencers, bev/al references are only a small part of the content on their sites. And not all influencers are under the control of any one marketer.