Analysis of Targeting and Representation of Women in Alcohol Brand Marketing on Facebook and Instagram

Claims by brands of a commitment to equality are at odds with the harms related to alcohol consumption that contribute to the widening of health and social inequalities.
Alcohol brand marketing encourages alcohol use to women through both perpetuating and challenging gender stereotypes.
Alcohol brand marketing presents women’s alcohol use as a feminine practice and as an important component of ‘doing’ a combination of traditional, post-feminist and feminist femininities.
Alcohol consumption was presented as an important aspect of ‘having it all’; including slimness, grooming, fashionable clothing and accessories, meaningful friendships and the successful management of women’s multiple social roles (i.e. friend, mother, worker).
Importantly the researchers found a move away from sexualising and demeaning women, to the appropriation of feminist and equality messages.