Undermining Health: The Controversy Over Alcohol Sponsorship in the 2024 Olympic Games

The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris marked a controversial moment in sports sponsorship with AB InBev, a major alcohol producer, becoming a prominent sponsor. This partnership between the Olympics and a leading beer company raises significant public health concerns.

The presence of alcohol brands in international sporting events like the Olympics have harmful implications. First, it normalises alcohol use in contexts associated with health, fitness, and youth-oriented activities. This sends mixed messages to audiences, including young viewers, by associating athletic success and enjoyment of sports with alcohol.

Furthermore, the visibility of such sponsorships can increase the likelihood of underage alcohol use. Young people are particularly susceptible to advertising. When they see alcohol brands prominently displayed at events that incorporate peak physical achievement and national pride, it can create an association between alcohol consumption and positive emotions or success.

Additionally, alcohol sponsorship in sports can undermine the message of sports as a pathway to healthy living. With millions watching worldwide, the sponsorship deal between the Olympic Games and AB InBev contradicts the event’s spirit by promoting a product linked to enormous health, social and economic harm worldwide.

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.

Source:
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/31/sport/olympics-ab-inbev-beer-spt-intl/index.html

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