A report into alcohol marketing released by Alcohol Concern claims that alcohol producers and advertisers subjected over a million children to alcohol marketing during the televised England games of the World Cup in June 2010.
Overexposed: Alcohol marketing during the World Cup 2010 [pdf]
It says over a million children between four and fifteen years old were exposed to adverts from brands such as Stella Artois, Magners, Fosters, Carling and WKD during live England games shown on ITV. It suggests the total number of children exposed to alcohol adverts during the world cup could be as high as 5 million when taking all the live games shown into account.
The report outlines flaws in current advertising regulations and makes recommendations to better protect children from exposure to alcohol advertising, calling for a radical shake up of the advertising rules. Professor Sir Ian Gilmore of the Royal College of Physicians said:
"The evidence is clear - children are affected by alcohol marketing. It influences the age at which they start drinking and how much they then drink. Alcohol is a drug of potential addiction and if drinks producers and retailers won’t stop pushing it at our children then urgent and tough legislation is needed to protect them”
In a Guardian article, David Poley of drinks industry organisation the Portman Group said:
"Alcohol marketing in the UK is strictly regulated to ensure it is responsible and aimed at adults... Advertising of alcohol on TV is not allowed if the proportion of under-18s in the audience rises to a certain level. One cannot eliminate under-18s from the audience altogether without imposing a total advertising ban."
The report is released as part of Alcohol Awareness Week 2010.
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