April 3, 2025 (New York)—Drink driving is a major risk factor for road traffic crashes, contributing to 27% of the 20 to 50 million crash injuries every year. To appear socially responsible, the alcohol industry sponsors drink-driving mass media campaigns—but a new analysis by Vital Strategies reveals these efforts are largely ineffective and fail to follow best practices in road safety communication. Rather than prioritizing public health, these industry-led campaigns serve as a marketing tool, shaping favorable perceptions of alcohol while doing little to reduce the harms of drink driving.
Media campaigns play a critical role in public health efforts to reduce drink driving. When designed with strong messaging, executed effectively, and paired with other proven strategies, such as enhanced enforcement, these campaigns can significantly reduce alcohol-related crashes, injuries and deaths. The World Health Organization outlines best practices for such initiatives in its SAFER technical package, a resource available to governments worldwide.
“The alcohol industry prioritizes profits; public health prioritizes people,” said Sandra Mullin, Senior Vice President, Policy Advocacy and Communication, Vital Strategies. “To truly protect lives on our roads, governments must exclude the alcohol industry from shaping safety campaigns. Instead, they should invest in proven, public health-led communication strategies that increase awareness, shift social norms and encourage safer behaviors. A well-executed, independent drink-driving campaign can reduce crashes by 13% and save lives.”
Studies show effective public health campaigns are grounded in research and behavior change theories. For effective drink-driving campaigns, best-practice messaging focuses on the severe consequences of impaired driving, evokes strong emotions and links alcohol consumption to crashes. Effective campaigns also feature relatable characters, avoid stigmatization and use serious, realistic storytelling. A strong call to action further reinforces the danger of drink driving and the importance of safe behavior. This guidance was developed based on a decade of message testing studies conducted through the World Health Organization RS-10 Project and the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety across 20 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Researchers examined 32 industry-supported drink-driving video ads across 14 countries aired between 2006 and 2022. Key findings include:
- Alcohol consumption was portrayed in most advertisements (73.5%), either explicitly (56.3%)–when alcohol is bought, held or served, or implicitly (17%).
- Alcohol consumption was glamorized in 61% of ads, linked with aspirational situations such as celebrations, social inclusion and displays of social or financial status.
- Celebrities, including actors, musicians, race car drivers and other professional athletes, appeared in nearly half (49%) of the advertisements.
- The majority (56%) of ads did not demonstrate the consequences of drink driving.
- 87% of ads included how to avoid drink driving by using public transport or selecting a designated driver despite evidence showing that “responsible drinking” means different things to different people and is largely ineffective.
- None of the ads used tones that would evoke negative emotions or clearly convey the consequences of drink driving.
- The call to action such as “when you drive, never drink” did not align with the content in approximately one-third (31%) of ads.
“Industry-backed drink-driving ads create an illusion of commitment to road safety while failing to meet effective communication standards,” said Irina Morozova, Director of the Road Safety Communication Program at Vital Strategies. “Our analysis shows that these industry-led campaigns do more to promote and normalize alcohol use than to prevent harm. Public health must come before corporate image—we need strategies that genuinely protect lives, not those designed to serve the industry’s interests.”
Many governments and NGOs collaborate with the alcohol industry due to resource constraints within public agencies. However, these partnerships often come at a cost—offering short-term funding while ultimately undermining evidence-based interventions. Instead of relying on industry-led initiatives, the study encourages governments to invest in independent, proven strategies that prioritize public safety.
Additional recommendations include:
- Government, transportation agencies and public health advocates should recognize the alcohol industry’s use of drink-driving advertisements as marketing tools that promote alcohol consumption rather than effectively preventing harm.
- Governments should avoid partnerships with the alcohol industry and prohibit companies from sponsoring drink-driving campaigns so that public health efforts remain independent and evidence-based.
- Local and national governments should integrate communication into comprehensive road safety strategies and allocate long-term, sustainable funding to help ensure these efforts are not dependent on alcohol industry contributions.
- Mass media campaigns aimed at reducing risky behaviors, including drink driving, should adhere to best practices by using data-driven messaging and behavioral research. Campaign development and evaluation must be guided by scientific evidence to maximize impact.
Read the full research paper and companion brief.
About Vital Strategies
Vital Strategies believes every person should be protected by an equitable and effective public health system. We partner with governments, communities and organizations around the world to reimagine public health so that health is supported in all the places we live, work and play. The result is millions of people living longer, healthier lives.
To find out more, please visit www.vitalstrategies.org or follow us on LinkedIn.
Media Contact(s):
Kristi Saporito, ksaporito@vitalstrategies.org, +1-917-886-4657
Ally Davis, adavis@vitalstrategies.org, +1-516-205-4203