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Tag: Alcohol Advertising Laws

  • List of Shame Targets Irresponsible Alcohol Advertisers

    http://media.smh.com.au/news/national-news/top-10-irresponsible-alcohol-ads-4481066.html

    Alcohol advertising in Australia is self-regulated by the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code Scheme at the moment. This is a voluntary scheme administered primarily by alcohol industry and advertising representatives but that could all change if an independent review board gets its way. The Alcohol Advertising Review Board recently released its top 10 shameful alcohol advertisements which target children. Included in the top 10 irresponsible advertisements are the advertisements for Budweiser beer on a telephone box outside a school and a range of Jim Beam Racing children’s clothing which have all been included in the list. The review board is a joint initiative by the McCusker Centre for Action on Alcohol and Youth and the Cancer Council Western Australia. In the first year of its inception the board received 200 complaints. The board’s first annual report, launched on Tuesday, revealed that it fully upheld 104 of the complaints and partly upheld 32 – a shocking number of irresponsible advertisements encouraging young people to drink. The Australian Medical Association has also joined the review board in its calls for government regulation of the alcohol advertising industry.

    To read the list visit http://www.alcoholadreview.com.au/resources/AARB_Annual_Report_1213-FINAL-for-publication.pdf

  • Responsible Service of Alcohol Update: New Zealand Tightens Alcohol Advertising Laws

    With alcohol advertising on the agenda in Oz recently it is interesting to see that New Zealand has altered its alcohol advertising laws. Alcohol advertising and promotion may no longer carry any environmental benefits of drinking and any ambiguous messages will no longer be allowed in NZ.The changes will come into effect as of January 2013.

    At the centre of the debate in Oz are questions about the effect of alcohol advertising on children in particular. Research shows that alcohol advertising and marketing messages are getting through to children and young people well below the legal drinking age. This is promoting underage drinking and the negative consequences that it brings. These advertisements and marketing strategies are making children and minors more accepting of alcohol and about the positive expectations about alcohol’s effects.

    Because of the damaging physical and psychological effects of alcohol they should be educated about its effects and not numbed to the consequences of binge drinking. Not only does it hamper their growth and affect their fragile emotional states but also hinders their psychological development, as many studies have proven.  Perhaps New Zealand’s example is one to be followed, if not entirely but at least in part.