ArticleBMJ open2018
Is the alcohol industry doing well by 'doing good'? Findings from a content analysis of the alcohol industry's actions to reduce harmful drinking.
Article in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
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- United Nations Partnerships With the Alcohol Industry.International journal of health policy and management · 2026Article
- Who funds the WHO Foundation? A transparency analysis of donation disclosures over the first 3 years of its operation.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Alcohol lobbying in Canada: a quantitative analysis of the federal registry of lobbyists.Health promotion international · 2025Article
- Bibliometric Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility and Its Impact on Community Health.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Are we moving into a new era for alcohol policy globally? An analysis of the Global Alcohol Action Plan 2022-30.BMJ global health · 2024Article
- The Perils of Partnership: Interactions Between Public Health England, Drinkaware, and the Portman Group Surrounding the Drink Free Days Campaign.International journal of health policy and management · 2024Article
- Awareness of alcohol as a breast cancer risk factor and intentions to reduce alcohol consumption among U.S. young adult women.Translational behavioral medicine · 2023Article
- Evolution of the major alcohol companies key global policy vehicle through the prism of tax records 2011-19.Globalization and health · 2023Article
- Using the Pan American Health Organization Digital Conversational Agent to Educate the Public on Alcohol Use and Health: Preliminary Analysis.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Addressing alcohol-related harms in the local night-time economy: a qualitative process evaluation from a complex systems perspective.BMJ open · 2022Article
- "Using information to shape perception": tobacco industry documents study of the evolution of Corporate Affairs in the Miller Brewing Company.Globalization and health · 2022Article
- Preventing and Managing Conflict of Interest in Nutrition Policy: Lessons for Alcohol Control Comment on "Towards Preventing and Managing Conflict of Interest in Nutrition Policy? An Analysis of Submissions to a Consultation on a Draft WHO Tool".International journal of health policy and management · 2022Article
- Educ' Alcool's misinformation: more mixed messages about alcohol harms.European journal of public health · 2022Article
- The Commercial Determinants of Three Contemporary National Crises: How Corporate Practices Intersect With the COVID-19 Pandemic, Economic Downturn, and Racial Inequity.The Milbank quarterly · 2021Article
- Drink, but don't drive? The alcohol industry's involvement in global road safety.Health policy and planning · 2021Article
- "When the Fun Stops, Stop": An analysis of the provenance, framing and evidence of a 'responsible gambling' campaign.PloS one · 2021Article
- 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
- News Media and the Influence of the Alcohol Industry: An Analysis of Media Coverage of Alcohol Warning Labels With a Cancer Message in Canada and Ireland.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 6 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe aims of this study were to: (1) describe alcohol industry corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions conducted across six global geographic regions; (2) identify the benefits accruing to the industry ('doing well'); and (3) estimate the public health impact of the actions ('doing good').
settingActions from six global geographic regions.
participantsA web-based compendium of 3551 industry actions, representing the efforts of the alcohol industry to reduce harmful alcohol use, was issued in 2012. The compendium consisted of short descriptions of each action, plus other information about the sponsorship, content and evaluation of the activities. Public health professionals (n=19) rated a sample (n=1046) of the actions using a reliable content rating procedure. OUTCOME MEASURES: WHO Global strategy target area, estimated population reach, risk of harm, advertising potential, policy impact potential and other aspects of the activity.
resultsThe industry actions were conducted disproportionately in regions with high-income countries (Europe and North America), with lower proportions in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Only 27% conformed to recommended WHO target areas for global action to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. The overwhelming majority (96.8%) of industry actions lacked scientific support (p<0.01) and 11.0% had the potential for doing harm. The benefits accruing to the industry ('doing well') included brand marketing and the use of CSR to manage risk and achieve strategic goals.
conclusionAlcohol industry CSR activities are unlikely to reduce harmful alcohol use but they do provide commercial strategic advantage while at the same time appearing to have a public health purpose.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.