Alcohol Industry Is Targeting Women and Girls
Moving away from sexualization to exploiting themes of sophistication, empowerment and friendship
After decades – close to a century – of alcohol marketing practices that have systematically portrayed women as subordinates to males, as dehumanized, objectified, and sexualized, the alcohol industry has significantly decreased (not ended) the depiction of women as (sexual) objects. Alcohol companies have invested massively in alcohol marketing campaigns targeting women with messages of female empowerment.
Alcohol marketing aimed at women capitalizes on the link between women’s alcohol use, perceived pleasure, and autonomy, reinforcing and perpetuating these behaviors and norms. Women are often depicted consuming alcohol alongside men in public spaces, symbolizing gender equality.
Additionally, marketing emphasizes female friendships and bonding over alcohol, presenting it as an essential part of socializing and constructing ‘girly’ identities. This approach appeals to women’s lived realities, promoting the idea that ‘girls’ nights out’ and ‘pre-drinking’ are important for shared pleasure and bonding (Atkinson, 2021).
The depiction of female friendship in alcohol marketing reflects the post-feminist notion of ‘girl power,’ promoting alcohol use as an empowering act while concealing structural inequalities. This strategy encourages group alcohol use among female friends and aligns with contemporary feminist narratives that celebrate independence and singlehood.
Alcohol marketing content often includes messages such as ‘tag your besties,’ which not only promotes alcohol use but also aims to engage consumers by highlighting the importance of female friendships over romantic relationships (Atkinson, 2021).
Furthermore, the alcohol industry promotes and glorifies alcohol use as a reward for women’s day-to-day activities, framing it as a well-deserved break from their busy lives. This aligns with neo-liberal discourses of self-care prevalent in post-feminist and fourth-wave feminist rhetoric, which promote self-resilience and empowerment through self-focus and consumption (Atkinson, 2021).
Feminized marketing
Despite the notion of gender equality and depicting women using alcohol alongside men, there are alcohol products strategically targeting women by incorporating specific design elements that appeal to their tastes and lifestyles. These products often feature special packaging that is smaller, pink, and designed to serve as fashionable accessories, seamlessly integrating into a woman’s personal style.
A 2018 study conducted in New York City found women are willing to pay up to 13% more for the same goods as men – from personal care products to health products – if they are rebranded to target women specifically (NYC, 2015).
In this post-feminist and fourth wave feminist context, traditional symbols of femininity like pink and makeup are reclaimed as celebrations of womanhood. This shift allows (alcohol industry) brands to appeal to a broader cohort, including younger women who are embracing new feminist identities, thereby expanding their market reach.
Advertising campaigns leverage themes of:
- Women’s empowerment and healthy lifestyles, with slogans such as “you have come a long way, baby,” highlighting their achievements and independence.
- Additionally, these products cater to conscious consumers by offering low-sugar options, promoting a perception of health-conscious choices.
- Marketing also taps into the concept of self-medication and coping with phrases such as “wine o’clock” and “mummy juice,” suggesting that alcohol can be a well-deserved break or stress reliever in the busy and demanding lives of modern women (Atkinson, 2021).
Big Alcohol Exposed: Why using coping and self-medication themes is a predatory marketing strategy
A comprehensive study from China examined the daily social pressure and socioeconomic factors related to women’s alcohol consumption in 2021.
It showed that the greater the daily social pressure, the more likely women are to engage in alcohol consumption. It concluded that increasing alcohol consumption among women may be due to increased social pressure.
And in late 2024, a study showed that past-year experiences with sexism among cis-female undergraduates in the United States were positively correlated with coping and conformity-motivated alcohol use, alcohol problems, social anxiety, and depression. Sexism was indirectly related to alcohol problems via the serial effects of social anxiety and alcohol consumption motives, such as coping and conformity.
The results highlighted the important role of social anxiety and young women’s alcohol use to cope with negative emotions and to fit in with peers who consume alcohol in relation of sexism with alcohol-related problems.
Another US study showed very similar mechanisms: More experiences of discrimination predicted a significant increase in alcohol-related consequences among undergraduate and graduate students, above and beyond the increase attributed to alcohol consumption to cope.
Also older women use alcohol to self-medicate and cope – which the alcohol industry clearly exploits. An Australian study showed in 2024 that older Australian women (aged between 60 and 88 years) view alcohol consumption as an accepted and normalised social activity, that was part of Australian culture. It also revealed that alcohol played a role for some participants as a way to cope with life changes (such as retirement), as well as managing stressful or challenging life circumstances (such as loneliness).
The concepts women have about being “responsible drinker” and their narratives about personal control and moral obligation often created a reduced perception of their own risk of alcohol-caused harm.
These research results show how the alcohol industry is a commercial determinants of women’s health and rights.
Big Alcohol Exploits Young Women: Sharp Rise in Alcoholic Liver Disease
In 2024, WHO released a policy brief on “Gender-responsive approaches to the acceptability, availability and affordability of alcohol.” Among other key findings, it detailed the role of the alcohol industry in increasing women’s alcohol consumption in the US:
- Alcohol-related mortality is increasing in the United States and more rapidly among women.
- This developed has been driven by the alcohol industry targeting women.
- US Americans used to be skeptical of wine as “refreshment” beverage, noted early wine marketers.
- In the 1960s the wine industry launched a campaign to get their products into houses across the United States.
- By the1970s the wine industry succeeded in making wine glamorous and hip by widening its marketing strategy to housewives and women’s clubs.
- In one decade, wine consumption doubled from 267 milliongallons in 1970 to 480 million in 1980.
- In the 1980s, wine marketers targeted women.
- By the mid-1990s the alcohol industry successfully positioned wine as a women’s drink.
- Women now buy two-thirds of wine sold in the US and consume 70% of it.
- In parallel the liquor industry placed alcopops known also as “chick beer” in the market. It was a transitional alcoholic product specifically developed to target women.
- Alcopops peaked in 2004 and established a bridge to parent brands.
- Sales increased up to 61% between 2000 and 2008 for a specific renowned brand.
- Since then alcopops became line extensions of distilled spirits such as flavoured spirits in a wide range of fruits. These industry efforts contributed to creating an individualized and feminized culture of alcohol consumption among women.
Women are paying the price for these alcohol industry campaigns.
For example, in 2021 the University of Michigan health system reported that alcoholic liver disease was up by 30% over the past year. Doctors were increasingly seeing patients with heavy alcohol problems or binge alcohol use since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Doctors observed that cases for alcoholic liver diseases are rising alongside rising alcohol use. Women and young people – specific target groups of Big Alcohol – are at higher risk according to the data.
In 2021, alcohol use among women in the US caught up to the level of men. This trend is leading to severe consequences in terms of alcohol harm in women:
- One study found alcohol-related visits to the emergency room from 2006 to 2014 increased 70% for women, compared with 58% for men.
- Another paper reported that the rate of alcohol-related cirrhosis rose 50% for women, versus 30% for men, from 2009 to 2015.
- The alcohol related death rate among women is increasing faster than for men. One study published in JAMA Network found, between 2000 to 2016, alcohol-induced deaths among women increased between 3.1% and 3.6% a year, about 3 times that of men.
- Another study done by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) found women’s alcohol-related death rate increased by 85% compared to a 35% increase among men.
Big Alcohol targets women
Despite alcohol causing very specific harms to women, such as the fact that women can get addicted to alcohol with smaller amounts consumed and in shorter time than men, the alcohol industry continues to aggressively push their products on women.
Big Alcohol uses various strategies to get more women to consume more alcohol, such as:
- Pink-washing of alcohol,
- Marketing alcohol with other products such as makeup,
- Promoting “low calorie” alcohol as better for women, and
- Marketing alcohol as a gender equalizer by aligning with women empowerment.
A study examining the link between alcohol consumption and non-communicable diseases among women in India found that 15.9% of women had any of the NCDs.
- 1.2% of women consumed alcohol in the current study.
- The odds of having NCDs among women who smoked tobacco, consumed smokeless tobacco, and consumed alcohol were 16%, 8% and 20% – significantly higher than the odds of having NCDs among women who did not smoke tobacco, consume smokeless tobacco, and consume alcohol respectively.
- The population attributable risk of having NCDs was highest for women who consumed alcohol.
A brand new study, published in February 2025, revelaed that women who were exposed to bars and alcohol ads on billboards in a day were more likely to report alcohol use. Similarly, those exposed to alcohol ads on billboards and bars every day were more likely to report alcohol use.
Higher cumulative exposure to different alcohol-related features is linked with a greater likelihood of alcohol use, particularly in the group with the highest exposure level.
These findings underscore a need to develop strategies to protect vulnerable people, especially women and girls from alcohol marketing.
Exposing Big Alcohol: What young women see in India
A gallery* to share a glimpse of what young Indian women see: examples of alcohol industry marketing and promotions of alcohol in the social media.
Surrogate alcohol advertising
Alcohol promotion events
Social media (Instagram) alcohol promotions
*Compiled by Saburi Chopra from HRIDAY, India, and shared during the report launch event on March 6, 2025