Life Matters - Full program podcast What's the harm in zero-alcohol drinks and should you try a no-buy year?
Mar 2, 2026
Dr Paul Harrison, consumer behaviour expert who studies earworms and music in advertising; Tamara Dimattina, founder of Buy Nothing New Month and secondhand advocate; Dr Lorinda Kramer, historian of sustainable fashion; Professor Simone Pettigrew, food policy and alcohol marketing researcher. They discuss zero-alcohol drinks and regulation, buy-nothing experiments and frugal chic, and how jingles shape choices.
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Alcohol Is A Unique Toxic Commodity
- Alcohol is categorically different from ordinary supermarket goods because every mouthful increases health risk; WHO says no safe dose exists.
- Pettigrew emphasises alcohol metabolises to aldehyde that damages DNA and raises cancer risk.
Reposition Zeros Away From Kids' Aisles
- Change product placement and branding to reduce youth exposure: remove zeros from soft drink aisles and make packaging visually distinct.
- Dee Madigan suggests placing zeros where teenagers rarely go to avoid normalisation.
Health Claims Create A Misleading Halo
- Alcohol brands use nutrition and health claims (low sugar, low carb, calories, protein) to create a health halo that distracts from alcohol harms.
- Pettigrew found products with multiple claims and even questionable additions like collagen plastered on packaging.