Self-regulation, while preferable to State control, can only work in a context where those in the industry behave responsibly, writes Patrick Kenny
Disquiet about Ireland's drinking culture is a regular feature of public discourse. Each round in the debate tends to be sparked off by new statistics that further illustrate the extent of our pathological relationship with alcohol.
This time it's Eurostat's turn: its latest report shows that Irish people drink more regularly than the citizens of any other EU state.
Statistics can hide from us the painful effects of alcohol abuse on the lives of real people. These effects include damaged health, broken families, injuries and road deaths, escalating rates of sexually transmitted disease and unwanted pregnancy, and of course tragic incidents such as the death of Brian Murphy in August 2000.
If efforts to moderate alcohol consumption are to be successful, especially with younger populations, a multi-faceted approach will be needed. This will require each sector of society examining how it contributes to the problem, and how it might go about rectifying the situation. One area of particular concern is the role that alcohol marketing plays in encouraging drinking by young people.
Several proposals have been forwarded to regulate alcohol advertising including restrictions on broadcasting advertisements around programmes where over one-third of the viewers are under 18 years, and a complete ban on ads on television prior to 10 p.m. Both of these suggestions have some merit. However, the international literature shows that slight restrictions like this have little overall impact when compared to the option of a complete ban.
The alcohol industry claims that advertising doesn't have an impact on consumption levels, but rather that it operates at the level of brand choice. The research evidence on this point is inconclusive, and will probably always remain so as a result of methodological difficulties. However, the industry's position is counter-intuitive and one must presume that they don't even believe their own spin on this point.
Diageo, for example, is currently running a €2 million campaign promoting a "safe-drinking" message. It is curious how one could simultaneously maintain that an approximate industry-wide annual advertising budget of €40 million won't increase consumption while a €2 million campaign would help reduce it. Either advertising affects behaviour or it doesn't!
While it may appear politically difficult for the Government to achieve a complete ban on alcohol advertising in the current climate, one positive initial step would be to effectively regulate the content of alcohol advertisements.
While self-regulation is always preferable to State control, this can only work in a context where those in the industry behave responsibly. Unfortunately the mounting evidence inclines one to believe that this responsible behaviour is unlikely to materialise.
Advertising here is regulated by the Code of Advertising Standards for Ireland. This lays down various restrictions on how alcohol products can be portrayed. For example, alcohol should not be shown to contribute to social, sexual or personal success, nor should it be shown to contribute to bravery or heroism. These rules aren't just arbitrary - research with teenagers reveals that it is precisely this kind of imagery that appeals most strongly to them.
A member of the public must make a complaint and the offending advertisement will then be investigated, potentially after it has received a significant amount of air play.
If it is found to breach the code, the campaign will then be stopped. However, the time lapse between complaint and conclusion can sometimes mean that a campaign has run its course before a decision is handed down.
To counteract this rather large loophole, Central Copy Clearance Ireland was jointly established by representative bodies in the alcohol and advertising industries to pre-vet all alcohol advertisements prior to publication to ensure compliance with the ASAI code. In theory, this should solve the problem of code breaches. But the reality is somewhat different, as a casual observation of recent advertising campaigns, and the latest report from the ASAI complaints committee, bear out.
Prior to Christmas, Bavaria beer ran a bus shelter advertising campaign comprised of three different ads. On one of these posters, in large print visible from passing cars and buses, the words "Look Really Cool" appeared beside a can of Bavaria. At the bottom of the ad, in considerably smaller print visible only close up, were the words "Unfortunately poor Godfried had convinced himself that a gold medallion and curly chest wig would make him look really cool". There were two other ads in this series, featuring the phrases "Make New Friends" and "Get Out of It", each with the headlines in large print and with similarly small context-setting sentences at the bottom. The alcopop WKD also ran a pre-Christmas campaign featuring the slogans "Official sponsors of Christmas kissing" and "Yule snog".
The ASAI code is clear - ads must not suggest that alcohol can contribute to social or sexual success, nor can they promote immoderate consumption. The ASAI's complaints committee unsurprisingly found that the ads did breach the code, though by then the campaigns had long since ended. What is most surprising, however, is that these ads were pre-vetted by Central Copy Clearance and were thought to be unproblematic. While one must presume that the CCC acted in good faith, their decision illustrates the glaring deficiencies of the self-regulatory system.
Of course, it is easy to use alcohol marketing as the scapegoat. Research shows that there are numerous causes of problematic drinking, many of which are connected with peer and family experiences. But wider cultural influences (of which marketing is but one example) can also affect consumption levels.
Of particular note here may be the media's coverage of the problem.
There is some international evidence showing that if people, especially the young, perceive that excess consumption is the norm they will then be influenced to drink even more. This of course poses a dilemma - public discussion is needed to generate a momentum for policy change, yet this public discussion may unwittingly contribute to the normalisation of heavy consumption. As with many complex social problems, effective solutions are not easy to find.
• Patrick Kenny is a lecturer in marketing in the Dublin Institute of Technology. Pat.Kenny@dit.ie