Bill to cork local booze ads could be in the offing

The Association for Alcohol Responsibility and Education (aware.org.za) yesterday launched its new Code of Commercial Communications for advertisers and manufacturers, and pleaded for them to start responsible alcohol advertising – before government did it for them.

Lying on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s desk since 2016 is the Liquor Products Amendment Bill, which, according to the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, included “the limiting of advertising of liquor products in all forms of media especially television, increasing the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 and the prohibition on the location of liquor outlets by up to 500 metres away from schools, places of worship, rehabilitation and treatment centres, residential areas and recreational spaces”.

“According to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) last report, SA is the sixth-biggest drinking nation in the world – despite only 30% of South Africans consuming alcohol,” said Aware CEO Ingrid Louw.

This meant a large portion of the minority of alcohol users were drinking excessively.

“If we don’t get it right, the very real alternative is more regulation. A complete advertising ban is still a possibility,” Louw said.

According to 2018 research, Alcohol Marketing and Adolescent Alcohol Consumption: Results from the International Alcohol Control study, South Africa, “expenditure on advertisements is extremely high in SA, estimated at R1.7 billion. Alcohol advertisements make up about 4.4% of all advertisements”.

“The finding that liking alcohol adverts was significantly associated with alcohol consumption helps to explain the mechanisms by which alcohol advertisements are associated with alcohol use among young people,” the report stated.

“In other studies, liking of alcohol advertisements has been shown to enhance the effects of exposure to alcohol advertisements.”

SA Breweries vice-president for corporate affairs Zoleka Lisa said the launch of the code was an important step towards demonstrating the industry’s commitment towards responsible marketing.

INFO

• The 2011 Global Status Report ranked SA as a country with one of the riskiest patterns of alcohol consumption, and with the highest reported alcohol consumption in Africa.
• Nearly one in two men (48.1%) and two in five women (41.2%) engage in heavy episodic drinking.
• Adults aged 15 years and older consume an average of 9.5l each year, which is substantially higher than the African regional average of 6.2l per person.
• This pattern results in high levels of alcohol-related harms, including violence, traffic crashes and HIV/Aids.

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