Exploitation Fuels Call To Govt To Ban Alcohol Ads

Health watchdogs are saying, “enough is enough” and are calling on the Government to ban alcohol advertising following exploitation of the current regulations.

The voluntary code currently governing advertising is proving to be ineffective, says The Group Against Liquor Advertising (GALA).

The code states that alcohol advertisements must not contribute to social or sexual success, nor have strong appeal to minors.

The industry’s advertisements deliberately and subtly breach this code, say watchdogs.

“Her butt walked into my hand – yeah, right,” is a Tui advertisement and provides an example of sexual success and is arguably aimed at young people..

“The Tui signs appeal to the student and party lifestyle which grabs my attention due to my age,” says 17-year-old Nicci Anderson.

The GALA website states that alcohol advertising glamorises and normalizes the consumption of alcohol. It further acts as a powerful recruiter of young people.

Alcohol Healthwatch says alcohol advertising not only increases consumption in general, but also encourages earlier and heavier consumption among youth.

The Alcohol Advisory Council agrees saying that sponsorship of sports and other events should be phased out as they associate alcohol with activities that are attractive to young people.

“Young people are not protected by the New Zealand law. They’re put at risk by alcohol exposure and nothing is being done about it,” says Alcohol Healthwatch’s director Rebecca Williams.

Although some regulatory codes to protect minors from alcohol advertising exist, the current system is being abused, Alcohol Healthwatch says.

It points to the KeriKeri Santa parade late last year as an example of advertising alcohol, which was within regulations, but has strong repercussions for youth.

The New World float that promoted beer also carried children.

“Not only was this alcohol advertising at a children’s event but it also used children for the advertisement itself,” says Williams.

“It was an example of gross social irresponsibility.”

Alcohol Healthwatch argues that these actions illustrate how the system allowing the alcohol industry to regulate its own behaviour is a farce.

Regularly, children are exposed to alcohol advertising in supermarkets where they can see the brands, the type their parents buy, how much it costs, and how easy it is to get.

Kyran Jones, nine-years-old, notices alcohol in supermarkets and can name seven brands of alcohol.

“When I go to the supermarket I see big signs and stands with alcohol when you first walk in.”

Alcohol Healthwatch suggests having designated areas, behind closed doors, within the supermarkets so that you have to be 18 or over to see the alcohol.

“Alcohol is different, it’s not your bread or milk and necessities, and it will allow for a more conscious decision of purchase,” says Williams.

According to Williams, exposure to alcohol advertising has profound negative effects on children and adolescents.

“Their brains are undeveloped and so is their maturity; making them physically and mentally more at risk to heavier and earlier drinking,” she says.

NZ statistics from the Alcohol Healthwatch website show that the 18-24 age bracket has the highest proportion of mass consumption on a typical drinking occasion. What is probably more concerning is that the 12-17-year-olds are the second highest in this field.

One of the key purposes of alcohol advertising is to recruit young drinkers, according to the GALA website.

Kyran, says he likes all Tui advertisements and says his favourite one is the one that said 'don’t worry Santa will come through your heat pump,' 'yeah right'.

“They’re funny”, he says.

According to GALA, the average child will see almost 5000 alcohol advertisements before reaching legal drinking age.

Although there are some restrictions on advertising alcohol, marketers’ have found loopholes specifically to target youth.

“Kids are savvy, they can get it if they try, and they’re a target,” says Williams.

Venue advertising, merchandise, social networking sites and competitions are just a number of ways that marketers can freely target youth.

“There is a need for tighter controls on the media that have particular appeal to young people,” Alcohol Advisory Council NZ’S (ALAC) CEO Gerard Vaughan says.

According to ALAC, All alcohol advertising including the Internet and cell-phone-based promotion of alcohol should be phased out, in the same way tobacco-related advertising and sponsorship was phased out, eventually resulting in a ban.

Seventy-five million is spent each year on advertising alcohol in New Zealand, which amounts to $205,000 a day. On top of this, money spent on alcohol advertising is tax deductable, according to ‘What New Zealanders told Law Commissioners Liquor Review’ (NZLCLR).

Nicci Anderson, 17, notices that Heineken sponsors rugby events and Australian cricket is sponsored by Victoria Bitters. She also says she is aware of alcohol sponsored events such as the Speights Coast to Coast.

ALAC says higher standards and tighter controls should be applied to advertising and sponsorship messages which could be viewed by children, particularly in sport and activities that are attractive to young people, such as music festivals.

“When events are named in association with an alcohol brand, such as the recent Jim Beam Homegrown music event, the brand benefits from the association and many of these events appeal to people under the legal purchase age of alcohol.”

Over the last ten years the number of off-licence premises has increased by 150 percent, that’s over 2,500 extra premises in New Zealand, according to the NZLCLR.

This has meant that alcohol in New Zealand is more widely accepted than ever before.

At the moment Burgerfuel is running a competition to give away 52 dozen bottles of beer by the end of the year and children can easily be exposed to this.

“Where does it end,” Williams says.

“Why is drinking so often portrayed as fun or about winning, about competition. Alcohol advertising most definitely needs to be banned.”

Selena Hawkins is a journalism student studying in her final year towards a Bachelor of Communication Studies at AUT University.

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