McLellan, GLyons, ASciascia, ANicholls, RMaani, NHuckle, T2026-05-072026-05-072026-04-20Drug and Alcohol Review, ISSN: 0959-5236 (Print); 1465-3362 (Online), Wiley, 45(4), e70157-. doi: 10.1111/dar.701570959-52361465-3362http://hdl.handle.net/10292/21041Alcohol marketing is harmful as it increases the consumption of alcohol, age of initiation of alcohol and hazardous drinking patterns. Dark nudges and sludge are behavioural economics techniques used to exploit cognitive biases to manipulate consumers to make decisions that are not in their best interest. These have previously been described in alcohol industry corporate responsibility materials and in digital tools and apps funded by the alcohol industry and are potentially being used in alcohol advertising including on social media. Dark nudges and sludge are potentially very influential within digital environments due to the potential for targeted advertising, the ubiquity of smartphones, the pervasive use of social media and the nature of the marketing, which is often difficult to identify. This commentary provides background information about the use of dark nudges and sludge on social media platforms, outlines key concerns in this space for critical health researchers, and outlines some future research directions for examining the alcohol industry's use of dark nudges and sludge in digital environments, including social media.© 2026 The Author(s). Drug and Alcohol Review published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/alcohol marketingcognitive biasesdark nudges and sludgedigital manipulationsocial media4206 Public Health42 Health SciencesBehavioral and Social ScienceSubstance MisusePediatric Research InitiativeUnderage DrinkingAlcoholism, Alcohol Use and Health3.1 Primary prevention interventions to modify behaviours or promote wellbeingCancerStroke3 Good Health and Well Being11 Medical and Health Sciences16 Studies in Human Society17 Psychology and Cognitive SciencesSubstance Abuse42 Health sciences44 Human society52 PsychologySocial MediaHumansAlcohol DrinkingPersuasive CommunicationAdvertisingAlcoholic BeveragesMarketingHumansPersuasive CommunicationAlcohol DrinkingMarketingAdvertisingAlcoholic BeveragesSocial MediaSocial MediaHumansAlcohol DrinkingPersuasive CommunicationAdvertisingAlcoholic BeveragesMarketingJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1111/dar.70157