Call for all alcohol advertising to be banned (From Daily Echo)
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Call for all alcohol advertising to be banned from Southampton General Hospital's Dr Nick Sheron
12:10pm Friday 1st March 2013 in News
By Melanie Adams, Health Reporter
Call for all alcohol advertising to be banned
A SOUTHAMPTON liver expert is today calling for all alcohol advertising to be banned to protect the health of British children.
Nick Sheron, from Southampton General Hospital, believes that urgent changes to the country’s “flawed” regulatory system are vital to ensure youngsters are not exposed to the dangers of booze.
His calls come on the day a new blueprint for action is launched to get tougher on the alcohol industry and tackle the harm caused by excess boozing in the country.
More than 70 health organisations have backed the new independent alcohol strategy calling on the Government to adopt a series of no-nonsense recommendations to curb the nation’s drink problem – which has seen alcohol-related deaths double in the UK over the past 18 years.
These include getting ministers to prioritise Minimum Unit Pricing, reduce the legal drink-drive limit and restrict the sale of alcohol in shops to specific times of the day.
It also calls for all alcohol advertising and sponsorship to be prohibited, a ban backed by Dr Sheron, who believes alcohol marketing increases the likelihood that young people will start drinking.
Along with his colleague Professor Gerard Hastings from the University of Stirling, he argues children need much stronger protection from exposure to alcohol, especially with the popularity of social media.
Dr Sheron said: “Our children need protection from alcohol marketing.
Voluntary codes and partial measures have obviously failed and digital media is set to multiply the resulting harm.
“We have to assume that drink advertisers are not deliberately aiming their campaigns at children, but internal documents do show that they are enthusiastically targeting the profitable group of young people aged between the minimum legal drinking age and 21.
The danger is that “such neatly targeted campaigns will spill over into younger groups” and that digital media is resulting in marketing that is “more powerful and less controllable”.
His views are supported by the Health First report, developed by experts as the battle against booze is stepped up.
There was unanimous agreement that a 50p minimum price per unit of alcohol sold should be a priority and to give licensing authorities more power to tackle alcohol problems in their area by controlling the availability of drink.
Sir Ian Gilmore, chairman of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said: “Governments across the UK have begun to take action to reduce the harm that alcohol can cause. This action is very welcome but needs to go further. The report provides a blueprint for action, now and in the future.”
Comments(16)
frankyboy
says...
12:22pm Fri 1 Mar 13
Someone quoted Hitler the other day, where he stated that people will accept their liberty and freedom being curtailed, if they were 'persuaded' it was for the benefit of children. This article fits Hitler's view perfectly.
Children should be protected by their parents - or is that an outrageous idea?
DJames75
says...
12:48pm Fri 1 Mar 13
Funnily enough I am not sat today with a hundred boxes of pantyliners and wedges of really expensive to repay cash!
I presume there must be something wrong with me, or is it called willpower and common sense?
heyhoo
says...
2:29pm Fri 1 Mar 13
Big Mac
says...
4:38pm Fri 1 Mar 13
Then Issue everyone over this age a weekly allocation of 'alcohol tokens' that set a reasonable allowance and only allow exchange within approved, conforming outlets. Those wishing to not use their allocation can instead use them as a savings fund against their tax. Acts of dishonesty such as sharing or stolen tokens can be avoided by having each recipients mug shot on the tokens in the form of a hologram – that way the government can keep more than an eye not just on the 'big issue', but devious, drink obsessed individuals too. Fund the scheme with 'on-the-doorstep' fines carried out with targetted dawn raids within unsuspecting conurbations.
Result: People will be too scared to even venture to the shops, let alone consider purchasing the evil substance formally consumed in copious amounts by one and all.
No, people will find comfort and extended pleasure in a new fad known as 'fast food' – imagine how exciting that could become?
rightway
says...
5:25pm Fri 1 Mar 13
Lower the price in Pubs.
Raise the age limit to 21.
Don't let women, children or dogs in Pubs.
Utopia.
Subject48
says...
5:41pm Fri 1 Mar 13
rightway
says...
5:44pm Fri 1 Mar 13
Subject48 wrote:Nothing,
what have you got against dogs ?
I like dogs but just like women and kids a pub is no place for them.
frankyboy
says...
6:12pm Fri 1 Mar 13
Subject48
says...
7:24pm Fri 1 Mar 13
Georgem
says...
7:28pm Fri 1 Mar 13
Subject48 wrote:And he'd be free to say "No thanks, I'll have a sober physician please".
@fankyboy ,if you ever need medical treatement and your physicican turn up hammered he can quote you.
The vast majority of us realise that, even though we're free to do a lot of things, it's generally not in our interests to actively exercise that freedom round the clock.
OSPREYSAINT
says...
7:29pm Fri 1 Mar 13
rightway wrote:That attitude could finish off the few Pubs we have left.
Subject48 wrote:Nothing,
what have you got against dogs ?
I like dogs but just like women and kids a pub is no place for them.
frankyboy
says...
7:47pm Fri 1 Mar 13
Subject48 wrote:Drink when you want. But if it contravenes your employment rules to turn up for work drunk, then you'll be sacked - quite rightly. In other words, live your own life the way you want, but take responsibility for your actions.
@fankyboy ,if you ever need medical treatement and your physicican turn up hammered he can quote you.
Not sure whether you were taking me literally, or just taking the p1ss!
bazzeroz
says...
1:04am Sat 2 Mar 13
Mr-La-De-Da-Gunner-Graham
says...
4:42pm Sat 2 Mar 13
Pull yourself together man!
Georgem
says...
5:30pm Sat 2 Mar 13
bazzeroz wrote:When was the last time you saw an advert for "alcohol"? Not any specific brand, or drink, but merely "alcohol".
You don't need advertising for people to know what's out there. Word of mouth is enough. If you want it then, you'll be able to get it.
Advertising isn't there to make us aware a product exists, it's there to persuade us that a particular product is desirable. If advertising was the simplistic mechanism you believe it to be, companies would have stopped bothering decades ago. Between some amateur marketing expert sat in his armchair, and experts from a billion pound industry, I think I'm gonna have to say the guys from the billion pound industry have got the edge.
So the idea of banning alcohol advertising isn't so that we all forget to buy any booze. It's to stop making it seem to **** sexy.
OSPREYSAINT says...
12:14pm Fri 1 Mar 13