Alcohol companies are creating online environments for harm, with a new report revealing that 39,820 distinct alcohol ads are placed on Facebook and Instagram each year, often combined with a button prompting users to “shop now”.
Over twelve months, 351 advertisers including Liquorland (owned by Coles), Dan Murphy’s, BWS and Jimmy Brings (owned by Endeavour Group) and multinationals Bacardi Limited, Heineken N.V. and Diageo, placed an average of 765 alcohol ads each week on the Meta platforms.
Most alcohol retailer advertisements (91%) used a call-to-action button directing people to find out how to buy, while 66.7% used a ‘Shop Now’ button to directly sell alcoholic products within the app, including animated catalogues with looping videos highlighting sales and promotions.
