The European Commission is currently evaluating the European Alcohol Strategy to support Member States in reducing alcohol-related harm. Eurocare, The European Alcohol Policy Alliance, has published its recommendations on a future EU Alcohol Strategy, covering the period 2013-2020. One of the main points of the recommendations is that European alcohol consumption by 2020 should … Read More →
The Zurich branch of the Blue Cross, an international NGO focusing on preventing and reducing alcohol problems, last week launched a campaign to ban alcohol marketing at sports stadia and sports events. This goals is perused primarily to protect young people. “We are not killjoys,” said Stephen Kunz, the Zurich head of the Blue Cross, … Read More →
The Australian Advertising Standards Board (ASB) has decided that all comments on commercial Facebook pages, including comments posted by members of the public, are regarded as advertisements for the brand behind the page. This means all comments on commercial Facebook pages must comply with the Australian advertising regulations. For alcohol brands and products, the advertising … Read More →
A Health Committee report has given a mixed, if not critical, verdict on the United Kingdom Government’s Alcohol Strategy published earlier this year. Although supportive of some aspects of the strategy, including the headline announcement of minimum pricing, the report is critical of an excessive focus on binge drinking over health issues and the lack … Read More →
The Knesset, Israel’s government, has approved further restrictions on alcohol marketing. All alcohol marketing on billboards and public transport will be prohibited, while media outlets are only allowed to present strictly ‘informative’ advertisements, without models, text, or praise for the product. “Newspaper headlines about 12-year-old kids who are taken to the hospital because of alcohol … Read More →
Adweek.com writes about the launch of a free tool designed to help alcohol brands market only to people of legal drinking age on Twitter. Companies Jim Beam, Jack Daniels and MillerCoors have tested the tool for a month and now the service is open to other brands as well. Alcohol producers describe this twitter age-gate … Read More →
In Russia, the State Duma (Lower House) has approved a new law that prohibits alcohol advertising online and in printed media. After January 1st 2013 alcohol advertisements will be completely forbidden. This tightening on alcohol marketing is the work of deputies from United Russia, Sergei Zheleznyak, Irina Yarovaya and Igor Rudensky. “We had to take … Read More →
In April the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health published a draft bill to limit alcohol advertising. In reaction to the plans, outdoor advertiser JCDecaux Finland has created a large campaign setup to sour the public on the advertising ban. This in turn sparked a campaign war, when Finnish social and health organisations retaliated … Read More →
Four franchises of Centra, an Irish super market, have been ordered to withdraw a promotion offering cheap alcohol as part of a deal for ‘children’s allowance day’. Children’s allowance day is the day of the month that low income families receive their Child Benefit. The A4 leaflets contained the heading ‘Children’s Allowance Day Deals’, and … Read More →
A new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health suggests that violations of alcohol industry self-regulation codes is most widespread in magazine advertisements for beer and spirits brands. Furthermore the amount of violations and risky content seem to increase with the size of youth readership. This may suggest that the alcohol industry is actively seeking … Read More →