Selling addictions: Similarities in approaches between Big Tobacco and Big Booze

Abstract

Background - The purpose of this research was to identify, through alcohol industry documents, similarities between tobacco and alcohol companies in approaches to evidence and counter-arguments to public health measures. Method - A search of the tobacco document archives through the World Wide Web for alcohol industry documents was conducted. Alcohol-related search terms were entered into search fields of the tobacco document archives. Results - The documents show that alcohol and tobacco companies have worked closely together, have shared information, share similar concerns and have used similar arguments to defend their products and prevent or delay restrictions being placed on their products. Conclusion - This paper provides evidence that alcohol and tobacco companies are similar in a number of ways and there is scope to use these similarities in developing more effective public health approaches to addressing alcohol consumption and related harms.