MP calls for ban on alcohol advertising in sport

Dartford MP, Dr Howard Stoate, has called for a crackdown on leading sports teams being associated with alcohol products, in a Fabian Society publication.

The MP, who is a practising GP and a member of the Commons Health Select Committee, has hit out at the prevalence of alcohol advertising and sponsorship within sport in an article in the forthcoming issue of Fabian Review.

“Alcohol advertising shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near live sporting events or sport on TV;” said the MP.

“Britain’s advertising rules say that alcohol products shouldn’t be marketed to under 18s. Yet we allow some of our leading football teams and players, with their millions of young fans, to be sponsored by drinks firms. How can that possibly be right?”

“With alcohol related accidents and ill-health among young people on the rise, the time has come to clamp down on the way in which the alcohol industry is using professional sport to boost its profile and sales among the young. A complete ban on alcohol advertising within sport is surely the only way forward.”

Notes

The article is part of the Fabian Review which will be published on May 15.

One American study quoted in a report by the Institute for Alcohol Studies found that heavy advertising by the alcohol industry in the US has such a considerable influence on adolescents that its removal would lower underage drinking in general and binge drinking in particular. The analysis suggested that the complete elimination of alcohol advertising could reduce monthly drinking by adolescents from about 25% to about 21%, and binge drinking from 12% to around 7%.

The Portman Group has introduced a voluntary ban on the use of alcohol branding on children’s replica sports shirts. This is due to come into force next January but Carling is to remove its logo from Rangers and Celtic replica children’s shirts ahead of this.

In France, the Loi Evin, which came into operation in 1993, bans the advertising of all alcoholic beverages over 1.2% abv on TV and in cinemas and also prohibits sponsorship of sport or cultural events by alcohol companies. Radio advertising of alcohol is not permitted between 5pm and midnight. As well as forbidding the targeting of minors the law also effectively outlaws `lifestyle’ advertising of alcohol products, advertisements only being allowed to refer to the actual characteristics of the product such as its brand name, ingredients, provenance, how to prepare and serve the drink etc.

In a poll carried out by YouGov for the Fabian Society 42% of people said they were worried about the high levels of drinking among teenagers. But younger people were less worried than older people, with only 28% of 18-35 year olds concerned about teenage drinking, compared with 55% of the over 55s.

The Advertising Standards Agency alcohol advertising code states that:  Alcoholic drink advertising must not be aimed at those aged below 18 years or use treatments likely to be of particular appeal to them (and that) Advertisements must not suggest or imply that drinking is an essential attribute of gender. References to daring, toughness or bravado in association with drinking are not acceptable.