Research on the impact of counter-advertising

Counter-advertising (part of Social Marketing) can be a tool to protect high risk groups (young people, pregnant women and heavy drinkers) for the harmful effects of alcohol consumption.

Counter-advertising in these contexts means disseminating information about alcoholic beverages, its effects, or the industry that promotes it, in order to decrease its appeal and use. It is different from other types of informational campaigns in that it directly addresses the fact that the particular commodity (not drinking, or very limited  drinking) is promoted through advertising.

Tactics of counter-advertising include media literacy efforts raise public awareness of the advertising tactics of an industry, health warning labels on alcohol products, as well as prevention messages in magazines and on television (media advocacy).

More information on Labelling

More information on Media Literacy