Alcohol adverts see young black people only as a market

Mail & Guardian

2 days ago

Underage drinking: A tavern in Diepsloot. Young people are being lured into consumption by manufacturers and marketers. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy
In the townships, billboards glamourise alcohol as a marker of success, style and independence, and it's no accident who the adverts are speaking to — young, black and aspirational people.
Across South Africa, teens to 35-year-old black people are being sold an identity that is tied to the bottle because they are a profitable market.
It's a tactic with deep roots. During apartheid, the infamous 'dop system' saw black and coloured farmworkers in the Cape winelands paid in alcohol, fuelling generational cycles of dependence. Apartheid leaders used 'liquor freedom' to dampen political opposition and generate revenues for the bantustans — and the alcohol industry cashed in on the ride.
Today, the method has changed but the motive has not. Big Liquor continues to extract value from the most vulnerable, not by force, but by fantasy. The fantasy of glamour, success, and 'black excellence' — bottled and branded.
In this country, heavy drinking is linked to more than
But make no mistake: this crisis has been engineered. It is not simply the outcome of personal choices, it is the product of a calculated marketing system that targets youth where they live, learn and scroll.
Tactics of targeting
Alcohol brands concentrate their adverts in black townships, on the walls of bottle stores that sit just metres from schools. Liquor outlets in close proximity to schools
On TV, alcohol commercials flood programmes popular with black youth, portraying drinking as essential to being cool, respected or successful. A S
These messages are further amplified by social media, where alcohol brands work with influencers, many of them young, black people, to push products at parties and music events. To teenagers, these posts don't look like adverts. They look like an aspirational life. And that's exactly the point.
Add to that celebrity endorsements and sponsorships, and excessive advertising at sports engagements, and the message is relentless: drinking is what the glamorous, accomplished and confident do. Especially if they look like you.
The industry is strategic even in its segmentation.
Bigger than South Africa
This is not just a South African story. It's a global playbook.
In the United States, black and Hispanic neighbourhoods have historically been flooded with alcohol and cigarette billboards, while white suburbs remained untouched. Cognac brands such as Hennessy targeted African-American consumers so aggressively in the 1980s that
In Kenya, authorities ordered the
And yet in South Africa, where the
We cannot continue to let an industry that profits from trauma define the futures of our youth. We cannot allow 'black excellence' to be sold to us through bottles, billboards and branded content.
There is no single fix, but there is a clear path forward.
Yes, the draft Liquor Amendment Bill, languishing in the department of trade, industry and competition since 2016, should be passed. It proposes raising the drinking age from 18 to 21, banning ads that target minors and preventing liquor outlets from trading within 500 metres of schools. But the real work is deeper and longer-term.
We need to reclaim the public and digital spaces where young people gather. We must elevate music, mentorship, sport and storytelling that doesn't rely on alcohol to be compelling. We must support youth initiatives that build real confidence.
Above all, we must challenge the idea that alcohol is part of becoming 'a somebody'. It's time to say: enough. Our culture is not your campaign. Our future is not for sale.
Alcohol advertising sees young black people as a market. We see them as the future.
Kashifa Ancer is the campaign manager for Rethink Your Drink, an alcohol harm reduction campaign by the DG Murray Trust.