Charity Calls For Ban On Alcohol Advertising

A charity has called for a complete ban on alcohol advertising at music and sports events.

Alcohol Concern wants the action to protect children and young people from what it describes as "excessive" exposure.

The drinks industry disagrees however, and says the advertising of alcohol is already heavily regulated.

Alcohol Concern claims the current regulatory system is failing young people, citing high levels of alcohol brand recognition and "numerous" examples of inappropriate advertising.

It is recommending new rules that restrict adverts to referring only to the characteristics of the product, such as strength, origin, composition and means of production.

The charity wants a ban on alcohol advertising in the trailers of films shown in cinemas with less than an 18 certificate.

Alcohol Concern also said the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) should work in a "more proactive way" rather than "depending on complaints from the public" before investigating breaches of the advertising code.

The ASA should be able to levy "meaningful" sanctions such as fines for serious non-compliance, it said.

And it added that regulation should be statutory and independent of the alcohol and advertising industries and has called for a review of the way digital and online content is regulated.

It suggested the introduction of a model similar to France's Loi Evin, a law passed in 1991 which has banned alcohol brands from sponsoring cultural or sports events, alcohol advertising targeted at young people and alcohol advertisements screened on TV or in cinemas.

Alcohol Concern's report is based on findings by its Youth Alcohol Advertising Council (YAAC), a group of young people from across England and Wales who review alcohol advertising and make complaints to the ASA when they believe content is irresponsible.

Three of their 13 complaints have been upheld.

Last month, regulator Ofcom published research that found children saw an average of 3.2 alcohol adverts per week in 2011 compared with 2.7 in 2007.

It asked the UK's advertising regulators to review the rules that limit children from being exposed to alcohol advertising on TV.

Alcohol Concern chief executive Eric Appleby said: "Children and young people are seeing more alcohol advertising than in the past and are better able to recognise alcohol brands than those of cakes or ice cream.

"This has to be a wake-up call to the fact that the way we regulate alcohol advertising isn't working."

Stuart O'Reilly, a 19-year-old member of YAAC, said: "The code is clearly unfit for purpose.

"Young people are bombarded with adverts that may not explicitly state, but often heavily imply, messages about alcohol that are inappropriate or misleading."

A spokesman for Diageo, one of the biggest makers of alcoholic drinks in the UK, said extra legislation is not necessary.

Andrew Cowan, Country Director, Diageo Great Britain, said: "Alcohol advertising, including content and scheduling, is already heavily and robustly well regulated.

"It's also important to remember that underage drinking has been declining steeply for the last ten years and so a combination of strong regulation and better education around the risks of alcohol misuse seems to be currently working."