Turning the tables on industry narratives: a health communication playbook for promoting health

Abstract

Abstract Industries producing harmful products such as tobacco, alcohol, ultra-processed foods, and fossil fuels use highly developed communication strategies to shape public opinion, influence policy, and protect their markets. These ‘playbooks’ rely on recurring tactics, including framing harms as matters of personal choice, promoting innovation narratives, manufacturing doubt, delaying regulation, and obscuring human consequences. While public health has increasingly recognized these strategies, responses have often been fragmented and reactive. This paper argues that health promotion requires a practical communication playbook that complements existing strategic approaches by focusing on real-time tactical responses. Drawing on cross-sector evidence and the authors’ experience in public health policy and advocacy, we identify six core tactics: reframing choice as freedom from manipulation; shifting attention from innovation to accountability; pre-emptive prebunking of misleading narratives; amplifying scientific consensus while explaining uncertainty; responding with speed, unity, and accessible tools; and humanizing harms through stories and visuals. These tactics are supported by policy and system-level measures, including stronger regulatory safeguards, systematic monitoring of industry narratives, and coordinated cross-border infrastructure for intelligence and rapid response. Together, these elements form a practical framework for moving public health from reactive rebuttal to proactive narrative leadership. The paper highlights the need for greater preparedness, coordination, and investment in communication capacity, arguing that effective health promotion depends not only on evidence and policy but also on the ability to shape and sustain persuasive public narratives.