Deception

Deception is Big Alcohol’s activity to hinder and obscure public recognition of the real effects of alcohol. The focus of the Dubious Five strategy of deception is the public’s recognition of the full extent of alcohol harm, the understanding of the risk caused by alcohol products, and the root causes of alcohol harm and their most effective alcohol policy solutions. Using deception strategies Big Alcohol seeks to fuel cognitive dissonance among the public.

Latest cases of Deception

Misconduct Report Mar 3 '26 AB InBev, Heineken Beverages SA
How Big Alcohol Stole the Budget: Inside the Industry Campaign That Derailed South Africa’s Alcohol Tax Ambitions

South Africa’s 2026 Budget set alcohol excise at a 3.4% increase – a clear retreat from last year’s above-inflation adjustment and a ...
Misconduct Report Feb 3 '26 Heineken
Heineken on the Tube: TfL’s Public Health Double Standard

How Heineken exploited a gap in Transport for London’s advertising policy to embed alcohol branding in public infrastructure. In ...
Misconduct Report Feb 1 '26
IARD Undermines Dry January to Protect an Industry That Profits From High-Risk Alcohol Use

IARD – funded by 13 of the world’s largest alcohol companies – used a trade media interview to discourage people from trying a ...
Misconduct Report Oct 28 '25 Heineken
Heineken CEO Pushes Misleading Mental Health Claims to Sell More Beer

Heineken’s chief executive, Dolf van den Brink, recently maid misleading claims that beer could help ease loneliness and even address the ...
Misconduct Report Oct 6 '25 Diageo
Diageo Exploits Youth Employment Crisis to Rebrand Itself as a “Development Partner” in South Africa

When South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, appeared alongside Diageo South Africa, ...
Misconduct Report Sep 17 '25 AB InBev
AB InBev Embeds Itself in São Paulo’s Health System

A tool used in São Paulo – Modera SP – is presented as a public health innovation to help people reflect on their alcohol use. ...
Misconduct Report Sep 9 '25 Fábrica de Licores de Antioquia
FLA dusts off Big Alcohol’s favorite myth – smuggling scare to block Colombia’s tax reform

Fábricas de Licores de Antioquia (FLA) has joined the chorus of industry voices warning that Colombia’s tax reform will “incentivize ...
Misconduct Report Sep 3 '25 Carlsberg
Festival violence and sexual assaults – Carlsberg’s “responsibility” campaign rings hollow

Carlsberg is touting its “ZERO Irresponsible Drinking” at Roskilde 2024, promoting a 0.5% IPA and positioning itself as a safety ...
Misconduct Report Aug 28 '25 AB InBev, Diageo, Heineken, Pernod Ricard
Big Alcohol’s Cancer Denial – Diageo and other global alcohol giants bank on creating confusion

Big Alcohol thrives on confusion. Diageo, AB InBev, Heineken, Pernod Ricard, and Campari all know their products cause cancer – and that ...
More articles on Deception

Read more about the dubious five

Manipulation

Manipulation is Big Alcohol’s activity to control its image. The alcohol industry engages in manipulation activities to protect and cultivate their image and the values of their brands. Deploying manipulation strategies serves for Big Alcohol to appear as “good corporate citizens”. The focus of the Dubious Five strategy of manipulation is the alcohol company, their brands and value. Examples are Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), green-washing, pink-washing, rainbow-washing, or white-washing activities.

Political interference

Political interference, or lobbying, is Big Alcohol’s activity to eliminate or minimize any alcohol policy effort that would threaten sales and profits. The focus of this Dubious Five strategy is the decision-makers and opinion leaders with the power to shape and decide alcohol policy decisions. Tactics of political interference are delay, derail, or even destroy alcohol policy initiatives, and to divide coalitions supporting alcohol policy initiatives. Big Alcohol is paying lobbyists and lobby front groups to interfere in public health policy making around the world.

Promotion

Promotion, or any marketing strategies, is Big Alcohol’s activity to drive alcohol availability and acceptability, to perpetuate the alcohol norm, and to place alcohol at the center of people’s thoughts and preferences, communities’ practices, and societies’ customs. The focus of this Dubious Five strategy is the people and their beliefs about alcohol products, the public and their attitudes about and behavior around alcohol products, and the consumers and how much, how often they buy and consume alcohol brands.

Sabotage

Sabotage is Big Alcohol's deliberate actions to damage and obstruct people's access to public goods. This Dubious Five strategy comprises calculated actions to break and undermine society's rules, laws, and regulations. This strategy also includes willful activity that jeopardizes people's access to essential resources such as water and basic food. And it includes Big Alcohol's deliberate activities to damage or disrupt the proper functioning of society's institutions, preventing them from addressing alcohol-related harm in the public interest. Examples of this strategy include corruption, bribery, tax evasion and avoidance, price-fixing cartels, violations of alcohol marketing rules, and other unethical practices, such as depleting scarce drinking water.