Vital Strategies has released two new reports from Canary, our AI-powered digital monitoring tool, revealing how alcohol and ultra-processed food brands are embedding marketing directly into everyday online experiences.
The findings show that digital marketing is no longer confined to ads—it is woven directly into the content people watch and share every day, creating a constant stream of exposure that largely escapes oversight.
Read the reports
From Stadiums to Screens: Coca-Cola’s Sportswashing at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup
Exposing Alcohol’s Advertising Playbook: Digital Marketing in RESET Alcohol Initiative Countries
What the research shows
- Digital marketing is embedded within entertainment, culture and social media content — making exposure difficult to detect and avoid
- Billions of impressions are generated through sports, influencers and viral content, often outside traditional advertising channels
- These strategies normalize harmful products and shape behaviors, particularly among young audiences
- Current regulations and population policies — such as health taxes — must keep pace with the growing scale and sophistication of digital marketing for harmful products.
Watch the launch webinar
To explore these findings further, we convened a discussion with global experts examining what this means for public health policy and regulation.
These findings underscore the urgent need for policies that can keep pace with the scale and complexity of digital marketing.