12 May 2025; Emma Shields, Karen Wright, Annie Borland, Jennie Connor, Steve Randerson, Kristen Maynard; Public Health Communication Centre.
There is strong evidence that exposure to alcohol advertising causes young people to start drinking earlier and to drink larger amounts .This survey found that safeguarding New Zealanders, especially children, from alcohol advertising was supported by the majority of respondents.
Four in five people (80%) agreed with not allowing alcohol advertising to reach children in any way and 62% agreed with banning alcohol advertising and sponsorship altogether (up from 34% in 2023*).
There was also strong support for removing alcohol sports sponsorship, with 68% agreeing that sports organisations should be supported to move away from alcohol sponsorship (up from 58% in 2023*).
Majority agree that the alcohol industry should have no place in developing alcohol policy
Four public inquiries in NZ have shown strong public and scientific support for ‘best-buy’ alcohol policies to curb harm, yet successive governments have ignored their key recommendations. This raises questions about the influence of commercial interests.12 NZ does not regulate lobbying, which has been documented in recent investigations, and there is a lack of transparency about interactions between policymakers and the alcohol industry.13
This survey found strong and growing support for removing the influence of the alcohol industry in policymaking with 71% of people agreeing that the alcohol industry should not be involved in developing local or national alcohol policy. This was up from 51% in 2023*.9
For the first time, the public were asked about support for a cancer warning label on alcohol products. Previous research has found that only 18% of New Zealanders are aware of the link between alcohol and cancer.9 This low awareness is seen globally, and the US Surgeon-General recently called for mandated cancer warning labels on alcohol products.14 Warning labels have the potential to increase public awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer.15,16
The survey found that 66% of people agreed that alcohol products should have to include a clearly visible label to warn consumers that alcohol causes cancer.