Webinar | January 5th, 2021
This webinar reviews what we know about changes in alcohol consumption since the beginning of the pandemic, as well as the changes in policies governing alcohol availability. It then reviews the policy issues associated with two sets of “stores”:
First, alcohol marketing itself has transformed in the digital marketing age. While industry voluntary codes set limits on youth exposure to alcohol marketing, in the digital era, exposure to marketing is less important than engagement, and both are increasingly difficult to monitor or measure. This brings in the first set of “stores” – the stores of data that alcohol marketers and social media platforms have collected, how they use these to target audiences, and the policy vacuum that surrounds this.
Second, the more obvious “stores” are the physical places to get alcohol. There have been many changes in the physical availability of alcohol in the wake of the pandemic, and alcohol marketers are likely to make these – such as home delivery and carryout cocktails – permanent. The presentation explores the public health and safety implications of these changes in availability, and the policy tools that may be needed to address them.
