Let’s be honest. We’ve all seen them: the billboards that seem to follow you home, the social media posts that make a Friday night cocktail look like the only route to happiness, and the influencer reels where a “refreshing” drink is casually linked to a life of glamour. In Kenya, we are a nation with a rich culture and a vibrant spirit, but when it comes to alcohol advertising, that spirit is often dangerously overshadowed by a thirst for profits.
We have laws, and they are getting tougher. The Alcoholic Drinks Control Act (2010) explicitly outlaws advertising that creates a false impression that drinking leads to social or sexual success, or that it’s acceptable before driving or engaging in sports. The new NACADA-proposed National Policy on Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Abuse goes even further, proposing a ban on online advertising and promotion, and stopping celebrities and influencers from endorsing alcohol. These legal safeguards exist to protect the public health and curb excessive consumption.
However, a law, no matter how well-written, is only as good as its enforcement. And here’s where the cracks begin to show, particularly online. While the proposed policies aim to ban online advertising and explicitly close loopholes, the reality is that the digital space is notoriously difficult to police. How do you effectively ban a sponsored Instagram story that disappears in 24 hours? How do you regulate a TikTok influencer in Nairobi who subtly sips a branded drink during a “lifestyle” video? This isn’t just theory. A 2024 study of 836 Kenyan university students found they were exposed to an average of 3.6 alcohol-related posts per day on Facebook alone, and this exposure was significantly linked to risky drinking habits, explaining about 56% of the variance in such behavior among the students. The report on tobacco marketing in Kenya reveals that the law hasn’t adequately caught up with digital marketing, allowing companies to embed promotions into lifestyle content. The same tactics are used by alcohol advertisers. The new policies are a welcome step, but enforcement in this borderless, ephemeral world is a mammoth task, and the industry knows it.
This enforcement gap should not be seen as a loophole to be exploited, but rather as a clarion call for self-restraint. While some manufacturers signed a self-regulatory Code of Conduct back in 2018 to market ethically and address underage drinking, the evidence shows this isn’t working. Take the Monitoring Alcohol Marketing Project Africa (MAMPA), a World Health Organisation surveillance program that examined alcohol advertising across seven African countries, including Kenya. An independent analysis of 282 unique ads collected under this project found that 78 advertisements, nearly 28%, contained at least one violation of the industry’s own self-regulation codes. Alarmingly, the ads from Kenya were the most likely to contain a violation. This tells us that relying solely on voluntary compliance is a gamble we cannot afford.
There is a stronger, more fundamental argument to be made here: one of moral obligation. The question is not just what you can do within the law, but what you should do. The data is clear and disturbing. A significant correlation exists between exposure to online alcohol ads and risky drinking among young people, as the Kenyan university study confirmed. Studies also show that targeting youth through lifestyle and influencer content is a deliberate strategy, as the industry seeks to build brand loyalty early. When a massive alcohol producer sponsors a popular music festival, they are not just “supporting the arts.” They are creating a powerful association between their product and youth culture. This is advertising by stealth, and it works.
Imagine you are a parent in Kenya. You are doing your best to guide your teenager, but their phone is a constant source of influence. On your morning commute, you pass a billboard showing a group of friends laughing over a bottle of beer. In the evening, their favourite YouTuber is casually promoting a brand. This constant, normalised exposure chips away at the message you are trying to instil.
The industry’s argument often revolves around jobs and taxes. The alcohol industry contributes billions to the exchequer and employs thousands. This is a fact. But can a price be placed on a single life destroyed by early-onset alcoholism? Can taxes ever justify the cycle of poverty and broken families that stems from substance abuse? The argument that profit justifies the cost in human health and societal well-being is not just morally bankrupt; it is short-sighted. A healthier nation is a more productive one. It doesn’t need an industry that slowly undermines its own workforce and future leaders.
While we wait for the full force of the law to catch up with the digital tide, the onus must fall on the advertisers themselves. Self-restraint in the manner, content, form, and timing of their ads is not a compromise; it is a sign of responsibility and long-term thinking. It means avoiding the glamorization of alcohol, stopping the cynical targeting of youth through influencer culture, and deciding that some profits are not worth the cost. Advertisers need to look beyond the quarterly returns and consider their legacy. Kenya deserves advertisers who do what is right, not just what is legal.
Simon Mwangi is the Deputy Director of Corporate Communications at NACADA.
