Urgent calls for loophole on zero alcohol advertising to be amended

Ahead of Saturday’s Six Nations match against France, Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI) is calling on the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, to take action and close the loophole regarding the advertising of zero-alcohol products.

Specifically, ones that use the same master branding as their full-strength equivalents in places that are designated off-limits by the Public Health Act (PHAA).

CEO of AAI, Dr Sheila Gilheany, said, “One of the ways the legislation seeks to protect children is by banning alcohol advertising in certain places including on the field of play during sports events, because 7 out of 10 of the top programmes watched by children are sporting events. However, just as restrictions under the Public Health Act came into force, big alcohol brands began circumventing the law by advertising zero-alcohol products using the same master branding, a move that former Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly labelled ‘cynical’.

“During the recent Six Nations match against England, the Guinness logo, with 0.0 tagged on, was emblazoned in the centre of the pitch. The law is clear: commercial communication that directly or indirectly promotes alcohol using any trade description, i.e. trademark, emblem or logo, is prohibited. Yet we still see alcohol branding being advertised in places it’s supposed to be banned, including also advertising close to schools and on public transport.

"It’s clear that the ‘0% alcohol’ is a smoke screen – it’s 100% alcohol marketing. Research has shown that 40% of adults recall seeing alcohol branding on public transport despite it being banned. The question is what are the government going to do about it?” she concluded. 

To further protect children from the direct or indirect promotion of alcohol products, the PHAA also legislated for a daytime broadcasting ban on alcohol advertising with no advertisements for alcohol products on television from 3am to 9pm and on radio on a weekday from 3pm to 10am the following morning.

This measure came into operation on January 10 of this year. However, the AAI claims that during the live coverage of the Ireland v England rugby match a few weeks later, they saw alcohol marketing being broadcast. They say the advertising was a seamless blend between Guinness and Guinness 0.0 using identical branding across ads on hoardings and ads on the field of play.

Dr Gilheany continued, “The alcohol industry will try to use any perceived loophole to get around regulation on their product. In the absence of any legal action, we are calling on the Minister for Health to close the loophole and ensure that zero-alcohol products that use the same master branding are treated the same as their full-strength equivalents when it comes to marketing regulations."

Kathryn Walsh, former Senator and Director of Policy and Advocacy at the National Youth Council of Ireland, said, “All marketing channels matter in terms of exposure of young people to alcohol marketing practices- whether we see 0.0% alcohol products in sports, on billboards, on TV or online. What we see now with this advertising practice is not a creative interpretation of the rules, but blatant exploitation.

“Companies are using brand advertising via 0.0% alcohol products to increase brand awareness – which in turn leads to increased consumption. Young people are especially susceptible to this – familiarisation with a brand early on in life leads to brand allegiance, which then becomes brand consumerism. 0.0% alcohol product advertising and brand advertising is a fig leaf for alcohol advertising and consumer recruitment, with young people being the target.

“Current policies are not working to protect young people from pervasive advertising and marketing of alcohol. Alcohol companies have diverted large swathes of their marketing spend into the sort of high-impact brand image advertisement that sees, for example, sporting events synonymous with alcohol brands and companies. This needs to stop,” Ms Walsh concluded.