What Popular Bars Post on Social Media Platforms

Popular alcohol use venues were overwhelmingly posting alcohol-related content that contravenes the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) Code. A decrease in the mean level of compliance with the CRTC Code was significantly associated with a 1% increase in popularity score of alcohol use venues and a 1% increase in the overall mean level of compliance with the CRTC Code was associated with 0.458 fewer alcohol use days per week during a semester.

The results of this study serve as a reminder to territorial and provincial regulatory agencies to review their practices to ensure that alcohol advertising guidelines are applied and enforced consistently.

More importantly, these results call for the adoption of federal legislation with a public health mandate that would apply to all media, including print, television and radio, digital and social.