Research Exposes Systematic Violations of Cambodia’s Alcohol Advertising Rules as Industry Scrambles to Manage Growing Scrutiny

“Study Finds Beer Brands, TV Channels Violating Cambodia Alcohol Ad Rules”

Kiripost reports:

“A survey conducted by the Royal Academy of Cambodia found that six beer companies and seven of television stations and media have displayed beer advertisements between the restricted times of 6pm to 8pm, featured alcohol advertisements within 200 metres of schools, pagodas and hospitals, and failing to feature health warnings.”

“66 percent of alcohol advertisements between 6pm and 8pm violated the guidelines by featuring prizes, persuasive words to encourage people to drink more, and celebrities consuming alcohol.”

“Mom Kong, Executive Director of the Cambodia Movement for Health, told Kiripost that alcohol advertising is not only detrimental to health, but also harmful for three main child rights: the right to good health, the right to life and a healthy environment, and the right to accurate information.”

Other Articles on Same Topic

• Cambodian researchers propose restricting alcohol advertising to ‘reduce allure’ (Asia News Network)
• Cambodia faces growing alcohol crisis as youth consumption surges (Khmer Times)
• Carlsberg responds to Cambodia beer documentary with ethics pledge (Scandasia)

Assessment

More than 60% of alcohol billboards sit within 200 metres of schools, and over 80% of digital promotions include no age-verification whatsoever. Brands found in 100% violation include Chang – owned by Thai multinational ThaiBev, one of Southeast Asia’s largest alcohol corporations – and Carabao, also Thai-owned, alongside local brand Hanuman. Cambodia Beer, owned by local brewer Khmer Brewery, violated the rules in 80% of its advertisements.

Big Alcohol Violates Child Rights, Hinders Sustainable Development

The Cambodia Movement for Health’s framing of these violations as threats to children’s rights is significant. Executive Director Mom Kong connected alcohol marketing to children directly to three rights enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child:

1. the right to health,
2. the right to a safe environment, and
3. the right to accurate information.

This rights-based framing strengthens the case for a comprehensive national alcohol law.

Cambodia remains the only country in Southeast Asia without a minimum legal age for alcohol purchases. WHO data confirm that heavy episodic alcohol is use surging among adolescents. Researcher Ky Sereyvath’s warning that the country’s 2030 development ambitions are threatened by the health consequences of alcohol harm reframes this as a development crisis, not merely a health concern – a connection well-documented in the evidence on alcohol as an obstacle to development.

Meanwhile, Carlsberg has issued a public statement responding to the Danish documentary “Cambodian Beer Dreams”, which premiered at CPH:DOX and exposed the beer industry’s aggressive practices in Cambodia. The Danish brewer’s response follows a well-established alcohol industry playbook: claim credit for voluntary steps to pre-empt and delay meaningful public health action on alcohol.

Carlsberg says it ended under-the-lid prize promotions in 2022 and wants a national ban on such campaigns – a convenient position given that its local competitors still rely heavily on these tactics.

The timing of Carlsberg’s statement is telling. It arrives not in response to years of documented harm, but in response to a film festival premiere that threatens reputational damage in the company’s home market of Denmark. This is crisis management, not a genuine commitment to people’s health. 

“Cambodian Beer Dreams” documents how Carlsberg’s Cambodian operations used prize-based promotions to drive high-risk and heavy alcohol consumption, and how the company systematically targeted young people – including minors – through aspirational marketing designed to recruit new alcohol consumers. The film also exposes Carlsberg’s reliance on “beer girls” – female brand promoters deployed to push sales in bars and restaurants – and documents how the company actively discouraged these women from organising collectively or seeking better protections against harassment and sexual abuse in their work places. This adds a labour rights dimension to a marketing practices scandal that Carlsberg would prefer to frame as a matter of voluntary reform.

An investigative article by DanWatch provides further documented evidence of Carlsberg’s youth targeting in Cambodia. The investigation reveals that Carlsberg’s new beer Angkor Sky was explicitly pitched – by the company’s own head of brand, at a promotional event – as ideal for young people “just beginning to drink [alcohol]” who “want to drink [alcohol] but are afraid to get drunk.” Carlsberg used social media influencers in their early twenties, some below its own self-imposed 25-year threshold, in direct violation of the company’s global marketing code. When confronted with the evidence, Carlsberg acknowledged the breaches but attributed them to local oversight. Movendi International’s Maik Dünnbier, quoted in the article, identifies the structural problem:

The underlying issue is that alcohol companies – such as Carlsberg in Cambodia – depend on recruiting new generations of consumers and high levels of consumption to make money,” creating a fundamental and direct conflict of interest between Carlsberg’s commercial imperatives and its stated commitments not to target minors.

Maik Dünnbier, Director of Strategy and Advocacy, Movendi International

Danish researchers cited in the article described the marketing as targeting “teenage youth” and called it “shameful, unethical, and a contemptible form of marketing directed at a vulnerable group.”