Polish lawmakers are debating regulations to curb aggressive marketing tactics used by beverage companies that blur the lines between alcoholic and non-alcoholic products.
Alcohol-Imitating Product Marketing and Health
Some beer producers are employing increasingly bold marketing strategies for their products. Experts warn that a new phenomenon, described by the WHO as “alibi marketing,” familiarizes children with drinking culture, particularly through offerings resembling lemonade.
Following controversies surrounding alcohol-branded fruit snacks (“alkotubki”), the market faces another trend: lemonades and non-alcoholic beverages with branding, bottle shapes, and labels similar to popular beer brands.
“Light” Beer and the Normalization of Alcohol
In Poland, beer is often positioned as a “light” and “social” product, leading many to no longer recognize it as a potentially harmful alcohol. Advertising, sponsorship, association with sports, and connotations of relaxation can suggest beer is less dangerous than other alcohols.
Zero-percent beer is often presented as a harmless alternative, a modern beverage, a lifestyle element, and even a sign of responsible consumption.
WHO’s Position on Imitative Marketing
The World Health Organization (WHO) unequivocally states that any promotion blurring the lines between safe beverages and intoxicants poses a real public health threat. The WHO terms such actions “alibi marketing,” a strategy to circumvent advertising bans by utilizing brand elements (colors, fonts, symbols) in campaigns for formally non-alcoholic products.
Normalization and Early Initiation
WHO experts state that products identical in appearance to their alcoholic counterparts are tools for normalizing drinking. Exposure to alcohol-associated branding lowers the age of alcohol initiation, according to WHO reports.
The organization emphasizes that corporate economic interests should not outweigh citizens’ right to health protection. The “image transfer” mechanism causes positive emotions associated with lemonade to automatically extend to the entire product line, including high-proof beverages.
Experts in Poland also note that using attributes associated with alcohol to sell products to the general public, including minors, shortens the psychological distance between “innocent” drinks and alcoholic products.
Public Opinion and Legislative Action
Since April 2025, the GrowSPACE Foundation has been running a nationwide “Zero Percent Truth” campaign to prevent early alcohol initiation among children and youth and to introduce a complete ban on public alcohol advertising, including so-called “zero” drinks.
A survey conducted by the Foundation and the All-Poland Research Center in November revealed that 85% of Poles support the changes proposed by the Ministry of Health to the Sobriety Education Act – including a complete ban on alcohol advertising and promotion and strengthened enforcement of the ban on selling alcohol to minors. 78% of respondents expect decisive action against early alcohol initiation.
Economic Freedom vs. Public Health
The debate over new forms of selling alcohol-imitating beverages has moved to parliamentary committees, where constitutional economic freedom clashes with the state’s obligation to protect public health. Analyses by Polityka Zdrowotna indicate that producers often cite the right to innovation.
However, legal experts point out that economic freedom is not absolute and ends where systematic consumer deception or circumvention of the Sobriety Education Act begins.
Current Legislative Proposals
A parliamentary extraordinary subcommittee is currently reviewing legislative proposals to amend the Sobriety Education and Anti-Alcoholism Act and the Health Care Benefits Act, as well as amendments to the Sobriety Education and Anti-Alcoholism Act and the Radio and Television Act. The last session was held on March 12th.
Defining “Imitative Packaging”
A key challenge in the legislative process is precisely defining “packaging imitating an alcoholic product.” From an economic perspective, the ambiguity of the regulations also harms companies that choose not to engage in such practices, potentially losing market share to those employing aggressive marketing.
Psychology of Consumption Training
In psychology, there is a phenomenon known as the priming effect. In this case, a product in packaging almost identical to beer ceases to be perceived as a simple cooling drink. For a young consumer, contact with such a product is a kind of “consumption training.”
Although the content is non-alcoholic, the entire ritual, from the way the bottle is held to the sound of the cap opening, builds lasting associations with drinking culture. The non-alcoholic product functions as a carrier of the brand-mother’s image, often associated with beer.
As a result, when a young consumer reaches the age of initiation, their brand loyalty is already formed, and the transition from the 0.0% version to the alcoholic variant becomes a natural, almost imperceptible step. This is a long-term strategy that is difficult to reconcile with corporate social responsibility (CSR) standards.
Poland remains a country with high alcohol consumption, with beer accounting for the largest share.
