Cambodian Youth Demand Government Ban on Alcohol Advertising

More than 700 young people in Cambodia have demanded a total ban on alcohol advertising, warning that aggressive marketing strategies are eroding the nation’s human capital and turning the “pillars of the nation” into “social burdens”. The appeal was made during the final round of a team oratory competition focused on the impacts of alcohol, held at the Royal Academy of Cambodia (RAC) on June 26. Organised in partnership with the Cambodia Movement for Health (CMH), the competition had gone through a month-long preliminary phase that saw hundreds of entries from across the Kingdom, according to a CMH press release. Addressing a panel of judges and an audience of over 300, the first-place winners expressed deep concern over the disconnect between educational efforts and the reality of the digital landscape. “While schools are striving to cultivate knowledge and laboratories are seeking innovation, outside the school gates and on phone screens, those educational voices are almost entirely swallowed by the shouts of clinking glasses and alcohol marketing strategies,” the winning team noted. “When children and youth are influenced by advertising and step into the cycle of alcohol consumption, it doesn’t just destroy their brain cells, intellect and learning capacity at a young age; it also robs them of their health and productivity, cutting off opportunities for future development — transforming them from ‘strong pillars of the nation’ into a ‘heavy social burden’,” they added. The runners-up highlighted the psychological manipulation used by the alcohol industry, noting how companies target the aspirations of the poor and the curiosity of the young. They said currently, alcohol advertising is “attacking aggressively and without limits” on social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, as well as on television, billboards, daily-use items, and at music or sport events. “What is most concerning is the strategy of psychological manipulation through massive prizes such as cars, motorcycles, gold, cash, condos, monthly salaries, trips and rewards under almost every bottle cap, which entices consumers to buy because they think they are making a profit,” they said. The group also condemned celebrities, whether TV stars or content creators, who promote alcohol on social media. They also raised the inadequacy of current regulations, specifically citing Prakas 084 — a directive from the Ministry of Information intended to manage alcohol promotion. They said the regulations alone certainly cannot protect children and youth from the influence of advertising, and noted that the implementation of the Prakas is not yet sufficiently effective. “This speaking competition is very important because it is a platform where we have heard the voices of youth concerned about alcohol advertising, and we will take their input into consideration for further measures,” said Men Samorn, information ministry undersecretary of state, and a member of the Alcohol Advertising Monitoring Working Group. The call for a ban on alcohol advertising also got the seal of approval from Yang Peou, secretary-general of the Royal Academy of Cambodia. “A strong country must have strong citizens. To develop citizens, we must remove alcohol from people’s brains; therefore, I call for a Law on Alcohol Control,” he said.