They are seen as the sensible option to enjoy a tipple without going overboard.
But low-alcohol wine and beer may actually lead people to drink more, academics have warned.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge say lower strength drinks are being marketed as drinks for ‘lunchtime’ or ‘all occasions’, which may encourage people to choose them instead of soft drinks.
They are seen as the sensible option to enjoy a tipple without going overboard. But low-alcohol wine and beer may actually lead people to drink more, academics have warned (stock)
Hailed for their low calorie content, they may even be seen by health-conscious millennials as the healthy option.
A study of websites marketing almost 60 low-strength wines and beers concludes that they are being sold as appropriate for times when people might not normally drink.
Lead author Dr Milica Vasiljevic said: ‘Increased availability of lower strength alcohol products has the potential to reduce alcohol consumption if consumers select these products instead of ones with higher alcohol content. If not, they may simply increase the number of occasions on which people drink alcohol.’
Researchers found people trying to lose weight are being nudged towards low-alcohol wines with descriptions such as ‘diet-friendly’ and ‘fewer calories’. Slogans for these drinks include ‘Who said dieting couldn’t be fun?’ and ‘It’s only the wine that stays big and full-bodied, and you don’t.’
Because these drinks contain less alcohol, marketing messages suggest they can be drunk on ‘all occasions’ or ‘any occasion’.
They are described as ‘for lazy afternoons and relaxing with friends’ or as a ‘lunchtime treat’ or ‘lunchtime tipple’. Low-strength beer is sold as being for ‘both dinner and lunch’, for barbecues, the beach or watching sports games with friends.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge say lower strength drinks are being marketed as drinks for ‘lunchtime’ or ‘all occasions’, which may encourage people to choose them instead of soft drinks (stock)
The researchers defined low-strength alcohol as those less than 1.2 per cent ABV – which stands for alcohol by volume, or the amount of pure alcohol as the percentage of the total volume of liquid in a drink.
Lower-strength alcohol is below 8.5 per cent ABV for wine and 2.8 per cent ABV for beer.
They compared 86 web pages marketing 41 lower-strength wines and 48 web pages marketing 16 lower-strength beers with messages marketing comparable regular-strength drinks.
Dr Vasiljevic said: ‘Our findings suggest that products containing less alcohol than regular strength wines and beers may be being marketed to replace soft drinks rather than products with higher alcohol content.
Hailed for their low calorie content, they may even be seen by health-conscious millennials as the healthy option. A study of websites marketing almost 60 low-strength wines and beers show that they are being sold as appropriate for times when people might not normally drink
‘Marketing lower strength alcohol wine and beer as being healthier than regular-strength products and suitable for all occasions may paradoxically encourage greater alcohol consumption. Thus, measures apparently intended to benefit public health, such as the wider availability of lower alcohol products may in fact benefit industry to the detriment of health.’
The study is published in the journal BMC Public Health and looked at drinks sold by four British supermarkets.
The results show messages about occasions, alcohol content and health were used much more for low-strength tipples, with no information about drinking less or the harms of alcohol identified in the marketing.
The results show messages about occasions, alcohol content and health were used much more for low-strength tipples, with no information about drinking less or the harms of alcohol identified in the marketing (stock)
It concludes: ‘The explicit reference to health benefits of low/er strength alcohol alternatives suggests that the industry and retailers may be targeting the health conscious “millenials” who now form a large portion of the drinks market.
‘It may also be part of a wider industry strategy to imply the health benefits of alcohol more generally which is currently not possible with regular-strength products under existing advertising restrictions.’
A spokesman for the Portman Group, the body that represents the drinks industry, said: ‘I’m sure most people would generally agree that the phenomenal growth in innovative and great tasting low and no-alcohol drinks is a good thing and will be entirely baffled by another academic study that seems to be suggesting otherwise.’