Sydney: Health experts have expressed concern over the official and unofficial alcohol marketing trend on Facebook, which apparently is exposing young people to a relentless promotion of binge drinking.
The social networking giant has official pages of alcohol brands with an average of 75,000 fans. However, researchers at the University of Wollongong found that some of the official Facebook pages appeared to promote excessive drinking, while the un official pages were far worse, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Lead researcher Sandra Jones said that parents are concerned about their child's online 'friends' as social media has become unofficial marketer for alcohol brands and for dangerous drinking practices.
According to the report, marketing trend on official alcohol companies' Facebook pages included posts that suggested drinking early in the morning, positive depictions of huge numbers of empty alcohol containers, and a giveaway of a year's supply of beer.
Meanwhile, Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code spokeswoman Denita Wawn said that the industry had improved its marketing on social media and there have been very few complaints about social media advertisements.
