Key messages

• Restricting alcohol marketing is an area of policy-making action across Europe. It is consistent with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendations for reducing harmful use of alcohol.1
• This review looks at alcohol marketing restrictions in Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden.
• Most countries reviewed have banned alcohol advertising in specific settings or forms of media, and most restrict the content of alcohol advertising.
• Restrictions often target children’s exposure to alcohol marketing and are often justified by the need to protect children. The more recent restrictions have a clearer focus on children, and countries have found that measures to protect children have strong public support.
• The overall trend is for progressively stronger and more extensive restrictions on alcohol marketing, with support from the public and civil society.
• The review did not find any comprehensive evaluations that prove the effectiveness of the marketing restrictions identified. However, we did find some academic evidence of restrictions being followed by positive results, including reductions in exposure to alcohol marketing, alcohol sales and mortality.
• The restrictions described follow international scientific consensus on how to reduce harmful use of alcohol,1,2,3,4,5 and the past successes of restrictions on tobacco marketing shows the value of restricting marketing of unhealthy commodities.6,7,8
• The lack of comprehensive evaluations in these countries is consistent with the international evidence base on alcohol marketing restrictions, and highlights the value of including a robust evaluation framework with any future action on alcohol marketing.