Abstract
Abstract
Background and aims
Alcohol is one of the leading preventable risk factors for mortality and morbidity in Europe. The World Health Organization has identified advertising restrictions or bans as one of the three best buys to reduce alcohol‐related harms, along with taxation and restrictions on availability. Norway is one of the countries with the strongest regulations on alcohol advertising; the Norwegian Alcohol Act, which came into effect in July 1975, bans all forms of alcohol marketing to Norwegian audiences. This paper gives an overview of the history of the alcohol advertising ban, the political process and debate leading up to the ban, the main elements of the ban and the legal challenges to the ban over its 50‐year history.
Methods
Review of key government documents, bills and parliamentary reports leading up to the adoption of the ban, as well as legal cases, grey literature and research on the alcohol advertising ban in Norway.
Results
The Norwegian Alcohol Act bans alcohol advertising, defined as mass communication for marketing purposes. The ban applies to all media channels that target Norwegian audiences. The marketing ban is an integral part of a comprehensive set of alcohol control measures. The alcohol advertising ban has been challenged legally on several occasions, and the courts have helped clarify the boundaries of the ban. The ban has also proven flexible enough to adapt to new circumstances, such as the emergence of alcohol‐free beers and marketing in social media. A comprehensive ban has some advantages compared with more limited advertising restrictions, with fewer loopholes and greater protection from exposure. To this day the advertising ban enjoys broad popular support; however, calls to modernize the legislation may undermine its comprehensive nature.
Summary
Norway's 1975 comprehensive ban on alcohol advertising has proven to be a flexible tool to limit exposure to alcohol advertising, although changing circumstances present new challenges.