Alcohol Concern are calling for statutory regulation of alcohol marketing as a new report from Alcohol Concern Wales says "big alcohol companies cannot be trusted to promote moderate drinking".
Download Creating Customers: finding new ways and places to sell alcohol, and new people to buy it [pdf]
The report says major alcohol producers are constantly seeking new ways and places to sell alcohol, and new people to sell it to. It says the industry undermines its own pledges to encourage the safe use of alcohol, highlighting marketing and sales tactics at odds with claimed 'responsible drinking' intentions.
The report also explores how alcohol is marketed to different groups, employing a range of strategies. For instance marketing to women may portray alcohol as a calorie-laden indulgence and as an aid to weight loss, whilst retailers are encouraged to maximise sales in various ways. It also says big drinks companies are working to drive up consumption in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America where levels of drinking have traditionally been lower than in the West.
Alcohol Concern Wales Director, Andrew Misell said:
“Given the number of different ways the alcohol industry can now sell their products, the big question is whether the people who make more profits the more alcohol we drink are really the best people to advise us on how to use it safely and healthily.
“Given the obvious conflict between the alcohol industry’s need to sell more alcohol and the need to promote moderate drinking, alcohol producers should have no role in drawing up information or policy on safe drinking.”
Currently alcohol marketing regulation falls within the Portman Group’s Code of Practice of the Naming, Packaging and Promotion of Alcoholic Drinks, which exists 'to ensure that alcohol is marketed responsibly and only at adults'. With overall responsibility for marketing adherence, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recently defended the current set-up following calls for tighter restrictions to protect children. However public opinion may be on the side of health groups given a recent survey which found most people believed alcohol advertising regulation to be inadequate.
A recent Cochrane review though did not find a clear answer as to whether banning or restricting alcohol sales would reduce consumption, although one subsequent study has found otherwise. However the general effects of advertising may be more indirect - for instance by changing social norms or associating alcohol with certain imagery or lifestyles, which may in turn influence overall consumption. These questions and other significant issues are explored in insightful look at alcohol marketing in this ADHS blog 'The drip feed'.
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