A proposed bill banning alcohol advertising has pitted two ministers of the South African government against each other. Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula argues that the government may lose half a billion rand if alcohol advertising is banned. Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini, is heading the interministerial committee on alcohol and substance abuse and wants to … Read More →

Denmark’s Minister for Social Affairs and Integration Annette Vilhelmsen has called out nightclubs to stop organizing so called ‘Young Club’ events, in which children as young as ten are effectively familiarized with drinking games. Recently Danish newspapers revealed that in a number of nightclubs, children are cheered on as they have juice poured down their … Read More →

A new Australian study concludes that sport is increasingly used as a vehicle for the promotion of range of ‘risky consumption’ products. A content analysis of one of Australia’s premier sport event, the 2012 State of Origin three-game series of rugby, identified 4.062 instances of alcohol marketing in 360 minutes of televised coverage. On average … Read More →

According to the Irish Sunday Business Post, Ministers have last week reached a principle agreement on the ban of alcohol branded sponsoring of sport events. A memo about this agreement is said to be brought to Cabinet after the Summer recess. For a long time it looked like Ministers couldn’t agree on the implementation of … Read More →

In reaction to the news that the UK Government will not introduce minimum unit pricing, health advisers to the government have resigned. Cancer Research UK, the Faculty of Public Health, and the UK Health Forum as well as key adviser Nick Sheron all resigned from the Department of Health’s alcohol network, which drives efforts to … Read More →

In Norway, the state liquor monopoly Vinmonopolet wants to take over the sale of wine and spirits in tax-free shops. According to Vinmonopolet, airport sales threaten their legitimacy and financing. “When every seventh bottle of wine and liquor in Norway is bought in tax free, the long term effect could be that our legitimacy is … Read More →

The UK Government has announced plans to ban retailers from selling alcohol cheaper than the cost of the tax payable on the product. This ban on belowcost selling will have a very small impact on alcohol consumption and related harms according to the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group. Experts, based at the University of Sheffield’s School … Read More →

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the self-regulatory organisation tasked with the regulation of the content of advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing in the UK, has ruled a Heineken TV ad must not be broadcast again in its current form. The decision is made in reaction to 17 complaints the ASA received because the ad … Read More →

Various recent articles reveal at least two big alcohol producers are heavily investing in ecommerce: buying alcohol online. AB Imbev and Heineken are both said to integrate their online marketing effort with ecommerce initiatives to identify the direct link between its online marketing and sales. Marketing Week reports that AB Imbev will soon start piloting … Read More →

Britain’s Government has yesterday announced that it will not be taking forward proposals to introduce MUP at this time, but it would be legislating to ban sales below the cost of duty plus VAT. Despite being in possession of the latest evidence confirming that minimum unit pricing (MUP) is far more effective at tackling harm … Read More →