Does alcohol advertising have an impact on the public health?

Abstract This presentation draws on recent New Zealand and international research to examine a number of questions about the possible public health impact of policy which allows alcohol to be advertised on the broadcast media. The relevant public health questions include: the contribution of alcohol advertising to aggregate levels of consumption and alcohol‐related problems; the impact on the drinking and attitudes of the heaviest drinking sector, young males, who tend to be a primary target for the advertising; the impact on those already experiencing problems associated with their drinking and wanting to abstain or cut down; the impact on the young as they move towards becoming drinkers; the impact on the likely efficacy of educational campaigns about drinking; and the impact on the social climate surrounding alcohol and in turn on the support for effective public policies to reduce alcohol‐related harm. Research in this area has increased in both conceptual and methodological sophistication in the past decade and studies using a number of complementary methods are available to assist our understanding of the likely impact of broadcast alcohol advertising. Evidence that advertising is likely to contribute to higher levels of drinking and related problems has strengthened over the past decade, suggesting that public health interests should be considered as one of the relevant voices in the ongoing policy debate around alcohol advertising.