ArticlePloS one2016
Diageo's 'Stop Out of Control Drinking' Campaign in Ireland: An Analysis.
Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Alcohol industry corporate social responsibility initiatives and harmful drinking: a systematic review.European journal of public health · 2018Pooled it
- Labelling the debate: a thematic analysis of alcohol industry submissions to the EU consultation on alcohol health warnings in Ireland.Globalization and health · 2025Article
- Reclaiming the narrative: countering harmful commercial discourses.Health promotion international · 2024Article
- Addressing alcohol-related harms in the local night-time economy: a qualitative process evaluation from a complex systems perspective.BMJ open · 2022Article
- Understanding the Political Organization and Tactics of the Alcohol Industry in Ireland 2009-2018.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2022Article
- Food as harm reduction during a drinking session: reducing the harm or normalising harmful use of alcohol? A qualitative comparative analysis of alcohol industry and non-alcohol industry-funded guidance.Harm reduction journal · 2022Article
- Meat, money and messaging: How the environmental and health harms of red and processed meat consumption are framed by the meat industry.Food policy · 2022Article
- A Comparison of Two GameSense Implementation Approaches: How Program Awareness and Engagement Relate to Gambling Beliefs and Behaviors.Journal of gambling studies · 2022Article
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- "When the Fun Stops, Stop": An analysis of the provenance, framing and evidence of a 'responsible gambling' campaign.PloS one · 2021Article
- Dark Nudges and Sludge in Big Alcohol: Behavioral Economics, Cognitive Biases, and Alcohol Industry Corporate Social Responsibility.The Milbank quarterly · 2020Article
- Comparing responses to public health and industry-funded alcohol harm reduction advertisements: an experimental study.BMJ open · 2020Article
- Advancing public health policy making through research on the political strategies of alcohol industry actors.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2020Article
- Alcohol Industry CSR Organisations: What Can Their Twitter Activity Tell Us about Their Independence and Their Priorities? A Comparative Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIt has been argued that the alcohol industry uses corporate social responsibility activities to influence policy and undermine public health, and that every opportunity should be taken to scrutinise such activities. This study analyses a controversial Diageo-funded 'responsible drinking' campaign ("Stop out of Control Drinking", or SOOCD) in Ireland. The study aims to identify how the campaign and its advisory board members frame and define (i) alcohol-related harms, and their causes, and (ii) possible solutions.
methodsDocumentary analysis of SOOCD campaign material. This includes newspaper articles (n = 9), media interviews (n = 11), Facebook posts (n = 92), and Tweets (n = 340) produced by the campaign and by board members. All material was coded inductively, and a thematic analysis undertaken, with codes aggregated into sub-themes.
resultsThe SOOCD campaign utilises vague or self-defined concepts of 'out of control' and 'moderate' drinking, tending to present alcohol problems as behavioural rather than health issues. These are also unquantified with respect to actual drinking levels. It emphasises alcohol-related antisocial behaviour among young people, particularly young women. In discussing solutions to alcohol-related problems, it focuses on public opinion rather than on scientific evidence, and on educational approaches and information provision, misrepresenting these as effective. "Moderate drinking" is presented as a behavioural issue ("negative drinking behaviours"), rather than as a health issue.
conclusionsThe 'Stop Out of Control Drinking' campaign frames alcohol problems and solutions in ways unfavourable to public health, and closely reflects other Diageo Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity, as well as alcohol and tobacco industry strategies more generally. This framing, and in particular the framing of alcohol harms as a behavioural issue, with the implication that consumption should be guided only by self-defined limits, may not have been recognised by all board members. It suggests a need for awareness-raising efforts among the public, third sector and policymakers about alcohol industry strategies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.