ALCOHOL SURVEY 2007: SPIRITS ARE HIGH
26 September 2008
During December 2007, the Compliance team undertook a survey of alcohol ads, the second to be undertaken since CAP and BCAP revised the alcohol clauses in 2005. The new rules placed more emphasis on ads not appealing to people under 18 years of age, especially through use of music, language or animation or showing people behaving in an adolescent or juvenile way.
The survey sought to establish whether the compliance rate had declined or improved since the previous survey. Encouragingly, the compliance rate improved by 3% points to 97%.
The survey looked at 463 ads; in non-broadcast media, 337 were press or outdoor ads and 40 appeared online; in broadcast media, 74 appeared on TV and 12 on radio. Just 12 ads (3%) were considered unacceptable. Eight of them appeared in non-broadcast media, two aired on TV and two on radio. Although the media showing the lowest compliance rate was radio (83%), the sample size, 12 ads, was too small to draw meaningful conclusions.
The reasons why we considered ads were breaches included:
• linking alcohol with overcoming boredom at work;
• linking alcohol with seduction;
• depicting alcohol consumption as a challenge and linking alcohol with daring behaviour;
• implying alcohol contributed to popularity or confidence;
• implying immoderate drinking had taken place;
• using a treatment likely to appeal to under 18s;
• suggesting that regular solitary drinking was acceptable or drinking was a means of resolving personal problems.
When a breach was identified, the Compliance team contacted the advertiser, told it to ensure its advertisement complied fully with the relevant Code and, for non-broadcast ads, advised it to consult the CAP Copy Advice team in future.
Given that the alcohol clauses in the CAP and BCAP Codes were strengthened in light of the concern about the drinking behaviour among teenagers and young adults, it was encouraging that no breaches were identified in ads for alcopops, a type of drink traditionally linked with teenagers. But alcopops are advertised less than formerly and two of the 12 unacceptable ads were likely to appeal to under 18s, suggesting the drinks industry should remain mindful of the need to comply fully with the CAP and BCAP Codes.
The survey results were encouraging and suggest the industry is acting responsibly and within the self-regulatory system. The team will continue to monitor alcohol ads across all media to ensure a high level of compliance with the Codes.
Click here to read the Alcohol Advertising Compliance Survey 2007