Drinks giants team up to head off ad regulation

Eight of Europe's biggest alcohol firms have united to launch new rules for their own advertising in an effort to head off tighter regulation.

Carlsberg, Heineken and Diageo are among the booze giants that have agreed the "Responsible Marketing Pact", which is being launched today and will cover all European Union countries.

A key measure is a commitment not to target children, particularly on social media. The eight alcohol companies said that they will only buy advertising in media "where at least 70 per cent of the audience is reasonably expected to be above legal purchase age", and the ads themselves must not be "attractive" to kids.

The drinks brands also vowed to prevent children from "inadvertently seeing alcohol beverage marketing" on websites such as Facebook by introducing "effective age controls" on ads and user-generated content on official fan pages.

AB InBev, Bacardi, Brown-Forman, Pernod Ricard and SABMiller are the other firms to have signed up to the pact, which has been produced with trade body the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and the European Commission's European Alcohol and Health Forum (EHAF). The alcohol firms claim the self-regulatory pact is "rigorous", and have hired management consultants Accenture to carry out independent monitoring.

The Advertising Standards Authority is expected to help to enforce the pact in Britain, with"public naming and shaming" for repeat offences.

Andrew Morgan, president of Diageo Europe, said: "The pact represents a major milestone in responsible marketing."

Charities such as Alcohol Concern have repeatedly complained that the drinks industry's marketing messages have been reaching young people "well before they are legally able to buy alcohol". A group of leading doctors warned recently in the medical journal The Lancet that there could be 210,000 avoidable deaths from drinking in the next two decades in Britain.

EHAF will monitor the new ad rules and produce a provisional report for Brussels by June 2013.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
News in pictures
World news in pictures
       
iJobs Job Widget
iJobs Money & Business

Programme Change Manager

£850 - £1000 per day: Orgtel: Programme Change Manager - Banking - London - £8...

Operations Analyst

£180 - £230 per day: Orgtel: Operations Analyst - Leading Bank in the City of ...

Finance Business Analyst - Banking - £500pd

£500 per day: Orgtel: A top tier banking client urgently requires Finance Busi...

Senior Finance Project Manager

£425 - £550 per day: Orgtel: Senior Finance Project Manager - £550 - Bristol -...

Day In a Page

Watch out Watford: Here comes the secretive Bilderberg Group

Watch out Watford: Here comes the secretive Bilderberg Group

A meeting of global power brokers in a Hertfordshire hotel is exciting conspiracy theorists, but what are they really about?
'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system': Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console

'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system'

Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console
Plenty of Fish dating site founder pulls 'Intimate Encounters' option to ward off sleazy men

Plenty of sleaze

Dating website pulls intimate 'hook-up' section to curb harassment
Inferno author Dan Brown 'honoured' to be invited to join the Freemasons

The Freemasons’ Code

Dan Brown reveals the message that told him door to the lodge is open
Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last

Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last

Nick Buckles survived the Olympics débâcle and a £5bn bid fiasco but a profit warning finally triggered his downfall
How to say ‘I’m a sellout’: Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar

How to say ‘I’m a sellout’

Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar
Why clubs are keen to take a stand

Why clubs are keen to take a stand

There's a real desire around the grounds for safe standing. But will the authorities listen?
In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

Disillusion with a siege mentality and negative playing style made change inevitable
James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

British driver was fascinating man whose epic duel with Niki Lauda in 1976 was typical of an era of glamour and glory – but also the ever-present threat of death
Stuart Hogg: Ready to climb his own Everest

Stuart Hogg: Ready to climb his own Everest

Lions' cub, 20, joins long line of players from Scottish borders club Hawick given opportunity to make his mark at highest level
Carl Froch handed rare chance of revenge with dream rematch

Steve Bunce on Boxing

Carl Froch handed rare chance of revenge with dream rematch against Mikel Kessler
'There is a battle going on inside us that is never discussed'

Masculinity in crisis?

'There is a battle going on inside us that is never discussed'
Have US shock jocks gone too far?

Have US shock jocks gone too far?

An incendiary remark from Rush Limbaugh may be the beginning of the end for outspoken right-wing US broadcasters
The ‘Beverly Hills’ of Surrey pays more income tax than big cities of the North

The ‘Beverly Hills’ of Surrey

Elmbridge pays more income tax than big cities of the North
Heavenly Bodies

Heavenly Bodies

Michael Landy's artistic marriage made in heaven... and hell