# "no proven link between alcohol consumption and marketing and sponsorship"



## Brendan Burgess (12 Apr 2013)

An interesting story on RTE this am 12.4.2013 
*Irish Society of Gastroenterology has called for action to be taken against cut-price alcohol & **has called for a 1% levy on alcohol advertising and sponsorship.*




> Responding to the call the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland said  "there is no proven link between alcohol consumption and marketing and  sponsorship".



If there is no link, then they should not be worried about a ban on sponsorship of sports events.


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## Latrade (12 Apr 2013)

These were my thoughts too, same when there was the beginning of cigarette marketing and adverts many years ago. These companies spend billions collectively on marketing, if it is of little or no impact, then wouldn't your business be better off not spending billions?

However, they specifically say between consumption and advertising, which they may have a point on. Alcohol consumption isn't just related to adverts. Price, availability, culture, parenting, education, etc play an equal if not bigger role IMO in alcohol consumption. 

From a sample pool of one, I may have been tempted to try a drink based on an advert (even then rarely) at the point of purchasing alcohol anyway, but I've never been encouraged to consume to excess alcohol because of sponsorship of Rugby or Football or anything else.


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## DerKaiser (12 Apr 2013)

Latrade said:


> Price, availability, *culture*, parenting, education, etc play an equal if not bigger role IMO in alcohol consumption.



Very good point. From very young ages it is obvious to children that alcohol is intrinsically associated with celebrations. This could include religious celebrations, amateur sporting events, etc. The glorification of alcohol goes far beyond sponsored professional sport.


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## dereko1969 (12 Apr 2013)

Sorry but you're all falling for the neo-prohibitionist argument and forgetting the basic fact that these companies aren't advertising "alcohol" they're advertising a brand - their brand - at the expense of other brands.


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## T McGibney (12 Apr 2013)

Brendan Burgess said:


> An interesting story on
> 
> If there is no link, then they should not be worried about a ban on sponsorship of sports events.



The main motivation behind corporate sponsorship of sport and the arts is to reinforce corporate branding. A fledgling brewery will never have the financial muscle to sponsor a major European rugby competition, so a multinational brewing giant can gain a competitive advantage by providing such sponsorship.  The brand exposure means that they will sell more beer, at the expense of their smaller, non-sponsor rivals.  But there is no evidence that people drink more beer overall resulting from the sponsorship.

The same logic applies to chocolate. Cadburys sponsor the GAA Under 21 Championships.  But there is no evidence that GAA players and followers are over-consuming chocolate as a result.


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## blueband (12 Apr 2013)

T McGibney said:


> The main motivation behind corporate sponsorship of sport and the arts is to reinforce corporate branding.


+1 very good post


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## Delboy (12 Apr 2013)

all good points....but the Labour party know whats best for this country and they want this brought in....so FG will drag it out and Labour will be no more after the next election.
So a ban will not happen!


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## ajapale (14 Apr 2013)

> Responding to the call the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland said   "there is no proven link between alcohol consumption and marketing and   sponsorship".



OK, that is what the drinks industry says but what does the other side say? Can they point to any _*scientific studies*_ here or abroad that demonstrate indicate the counter hypothesis. ie that there is a link between alcohol consumption and marketing and   sponsorship.


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## One (19 Apr 2013)

ajapale said:


> OK, that is what the drinks industry says but what does the other side say? Can they point to any _*scientific studies*_ here or abroad that demonstrate indicate the counter hypothesis. ie that there is a link between alcohol consumption and marketing and sponsorship.


 
Steering Group Report on National Misuse Stratgey 2012
See page 56 - Impact of alcohol marketing on young people.

An extract is as follows………………..

"Young people are aware of alcohol advertisements and this awareness increases with age. The WHO states that the effects of exposure to alcohol marketing seem to be cumulative and can contribute to the normalising of drinking alcohol and eventually to increased levels of harmful use of alcohol in the population. International and Irish research has shown the importance of alcohol advertising in shaping youth attitudes, perceptions and expectancies about alcohol use, which then influence youth decisions to drink. _*61-64*_

Young people have a particularly high awareness of, and exposure to, sports sponsorship.*65* Marketing through sports sponsorship has been shown to attract young males, the group most likely to be heavier drinkers. Research from New Zealand has shown that sports players who received sponsorship at individual, team or club level were more likely to be hazardous drinkers and had an average AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) score 2.4 points higher than those who received no sponsorship.*66*

A small survey in Ireland found similar results to the international literature, with 16–21 year olds having a very high awareness of advertising and sponsorship. Awareness of advertising was highest for TV (93 per cent), followed by radio (31 per cent), outdoor advertising (25 per cent), online (10 per cent) and print (8 per cent). Guinness was the second favourite advertisement, and alcohol brands made up five of the top ten favourite advertisements in 2010.11 Four in ten surveyed reported owning an alcohol branded item of clothing, with 25 per cent owning a rugby/football jersey with an alcohol branded logo".
________________________________________________________________________
61. National Youth Council of Ireland (2009) Get ‘em young: Mapping young people’s exposure to alcohol marketing in Ireland. Dublin: NYCI.
62. Tapert SF, Cheung EH, Brown GG, Frank LR, Paulus MP, Schweinsburg AD, et al. (2003) Neural response to alcohol stimuli in adolescents with alcohol use disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 60: 727-35.
63. Austin EW, Chen MJ and Grube JW (2006) How does alcohol advertising influence underage drinking? The role of desirability, identifi cation and skepticism. J Adolesc Health. 38: 376-84.
64. Gordon R, Mackintosh AM and Moodie C (2010) The Impact of Alcohol Marketing on Youth Drinking Behaviour: A Two-stage Cohort Study. Alcohol Alcohol. 45: 470-480.
65. Gordon R, Moodie C, Eadie D and Hastings G (2010) Critical social marketing - The impact of alcohol marketing on youth drinking: Qualitative findings. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing. 15: 267-275.
66. O’Brien KS and Kypri K (2008) Alcohol industry sponsorship and hazardous drinking among sportspeople. Addiction. 103: 1961-6.


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## T McGibney (22 Apr 2013)

One said:


> Steering Group Report on National Misuse Stratgey 2012
> ...seem to be cumulative and can contribute to ...



Rather watery "evidence".


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## dereko1969 (22 Apr 2013)

It should be pretty easy to check whether the French ban on advertising alcohol at or through sporting occasions has had any impact on alcohol consumption there. Though of course that ban really affected beer more than wine, quelle surprise!


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## Complainer (22 Apr 2013)

So just to be clear, the directors of the alcohol companies who have specific fiduciary duties to their shareholders, are sanctioning large expenditures on sponsorship that don't actually benefit the companies themselves?


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## Sunny (23 Apr 2013)

Of course it makes a difference to brand awareness. Someone who wants to have a beer might choose Heineken based on their sponsorship of the rugby. The question is whether this sponsorship makes people who don't drink suddenly want to drink alcohol or makes people drink more. I haven't seen any evidence that it does.


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## Purple (23 Apr 2013)

Price and availability seem to be the factors that influence consumption levels.
Beer is often cheaper than soft drinks in shops. There’s no way it should be as cheap as it is. 
If we want to reduce alcohol consumption levels then bring in a minimum price  per unit, restrict where alcohol can be sold and then, if there’s still a problem, stop advertising and sponsorship of sport and sporting events. If a ban on sports sponsorship by drinks companies to be introduced I suggest that banning sponsorship by high sugar food and soft drink products should also take place; we all know alcohol is dangerous but I think the general awareness is lower of how bad for you “Sports Drinks” and high sugar (and salt) foods are.


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## T McGibney (24 Apr 2013)

Complainer said:


> So just to be clear, the directors of the alcohol companies who have specific fiduciary duties to their shareholders, are sanctioning large expenditures on sponsorship that don't actually benefit the companies themselves?



Forgive me for asking, but I'm just wondering, did you bother reading the earlier posts before posting this odd question?


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## ajapale (24 Apr 2013)

Minimum unit pricing for alcohol was recently rejected in England but is being debated in Scotland at present.

There were claims in todays newspapers that the drinks industry deliberately distorted some of the scientific studies during the English debate.

Supermarkets 'distorted' scientific findings on _alcohol_

_[Quote = Engilish Independant]
_
[Quote = English Independant]
Dr Jim McCambridge, who led the study published in PLOS Medicine, said:  "There is a broad consensus internationally among researchers that the  most effective measures to control problems caused by alcohol are to  raise the price, control availability and restrict marketing activities.  However, our study shows that key players in the alcohol industry  constructed doubt about this wealth of scientific evidence and instead  chose to promote weak, survey-based evidence, as well as making  unsubstantiated claims to their advantage." [/Quote]


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## One (26 Apr 2013)

Sunny said:


> The question is whether this sponsorship makes people who don't drink suddenly want to drink alcohol or makes people drink more. I haven't seen any evidence that it does.


 
But with respect, are they the only questions, or are they the most important questions?

I think that the most importants questions are;
1/. Does the sponsorship at sporting events adversely influence children and young teenagers?
2/. In a society where drinking is a problem, and sport and fitness activities is an alternative, should alcohol sponsorship and advertising be allowed to be so dominant at sporting events?
3/. Can the major events survive without the sponsorship revenue? 
4/. Etc, etc.


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## dereko1969 (26 Apr 2013)

1/ More than seeing that advertising in other locations? Or are you proposing a ban on all alcohol advertising?
2/ I don't see that they are so dominant, there are plenty of other advertising at sporting events, or are you saying that they shouldn't be the named sponsor Heineken Cup/ Guinness All-Ireland etc
3/ Define major events? Are you only banning it at major events or all sporting events? If the former, they probably could survive.

Edit: Ok this is from the drinks industry but it is quoting cso statistics that show that alcohol consumption in Ireland has been in steady decline since 2001.
[broken link removed]


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## One (26 Apr 2013)

dereko1969 said:


> 1/ More than seeing that advertising in other locations? Or are you proposing a ban on all alcohol advertising?


 
Certainly stop alcohol advertising on football jumpers for children, and possibly stop alcohol advertisements on TV during TV breaks in at half time for big events. I wouldn't ban all alcohol advertising but I would tone it down substantially.



dereko1969 said:


> 2/ I don't see that they are so dominant, there are plenty of other advertising at sporting events, or are you saying that they shouldn't be the named sponsor Heineken Cup/ Guinness All-Ireland etc


 
After watching Des Bishop's excellent documentary series 'Under the Influence' I do think alcohol advertising is too prominant in both rugby and the GAA. Just my opinion anyway.



dereko1969 said:


> Are you only banning it at major events or all sporting events?


 
For the most part I am agreeing with the Steering Group Report in that it should be phased out / reduced from sporting events that are family orientated. I don't see a huge problem with things like the Jameson Film Festival where the audience is a little older or with the Cat Laughs Festival in Kilkenny.



dereko1969 said:


> Edit: Ok this is from the drinks industry but it is quoting cso statistics that show that alcohol consumption in Ireland has been in steady decline since 2001.
> [broken link removed]


 
To be honest, this statistic surprises me. I have seen it before. I am not against people having a drink, but don't like to see alcohol abused. Last week's local newspaper stated that 50% of all crimes are committed locally by teenagers/ people in their early twenties who are intoxicated. The Steering Report talks about a significant proportion of beds being filled with alcohol related illnesses. There is a problem, whether or not the Revenue Commissioner's statistics illustrate it or not. But I'm not saying I doubt the accuracy of the Revenue Commissioner's statistics for one minute either.


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## ajapale (26 Apr 2013)

It is interesting to note that the original call from the *Irish Society of Gastroenterology was for action to be taken against cut-price alcohol & **for a 1% levy on alcohol advertising and sponsorship.

*The drinks industry responded to the second point but not the first (minimum unit pricing for alcohol).

Also note that the advertising and sponsorship proposal was not for a ban but rather a modest 1% levy on marketing spend.

The http://alcoholireland.ie/ website makes interesting reading.


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## Complainer (27 Apr 2013)

Sunny said:


> Of course it makes a difference to brand awareness. Someone who wants to have a beer might choose Heineken based on their sponsorship of the rugby. The question is whether this sponsorship makes people who don't drink suddenly want to drink alcohol or makes people drink more. I haven't seen any evidence that it does.



So let's just imagine a utopian world where no drinks company does sponsorship or advertising. You reckon that society will still drink the same amounts of alcohol regardless?


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## Sunny (27 Apr 2013)

Complainer said:


> So let's just imagine a utopian world where no drinks company does sponsorship or advertising. You reckon that society will still drink the same amounts of alcohol regardless?



How long has alcohol been around? Do you think ancient Egyptians got drunk because they were influenced by billboards on the pyramids? People have been getting through throughout history. Nobody drinks more because of advertising. They might drink particular brands because of it. If people abuse alcohol, it's because of numerous factors. It's not because Guinness sponsored the hurling championship. 

What difference has all the bans on tobacco sponsorship? I look around and young are still smoking. My friends still smoke as much. 

If you think alcohol adveryising is so effective, why don't we counter it by advertising the dangers of alcohol more? It's because people know it would have the same effect on behaviour as road safety ads I.e. very little.


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## ajapale (27 Apr 2013)

Take a look at the proposals by the  Irish Society of Gastroenterology *ISoG* and the response by Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland *ABF**oI*.

Proposing:

*ISoG*:  action to be taken against cut-price alcohol.
*ISoG*: a 1% levy on alcohol advertising and sponsorship.
*ISoG*:  improved  investment in hospital and community-based alcohol treatment services.
*ISoG*: restrict availability of cheap drink in supermarkets,  convenience stores and petrol stations.


Responding:

*ABF**oI: *"There is no proven link between alcohol consumption and marketing  and sponsorship."
*ABF**oI: *"Alcohol consumption has fallen by over 19% since 2001  and we are now fast approaching EU norms."
*ABF**oI: *"the vast majority of  Irish people drink responsibly"
*ABF**oI:* simply introducing another tax in order to fund another quango will not achieve this (reduce the  level of alcohol misuse).




I invite AAMers to draw their own conclusions.


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## One (29 Apr 2013)

I got the following from http://alcoholireland.ie/facts/alcohol-related-harm-facts-and-statistics/

"Meanwhile, alcohol-related harms cost each tax payer in Ireland an estimated €3,318 a year. And that’s just the financial cost:

Every seven hours, someone in Ireland dies from an alcohol-related illness
One in eleven children in Ireland say parental alcohol use has a negative effect on their lives – that is about109,684 children
There are 1,200 cases of cancer each year from alcohol in Ireland
One in four deaths of young men aged 15-39 in Ireland is due to alcohol".
I didn't realise thing were so bad. And €3,318 per each tax payer a year? That is about 10 times the average property tax!


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## Latrade (2 May 2013)

One said:


> I didn't realise thing were so bad. And €3,318 per each tax payer a year? That is about 10 times the average property tax!


 
While true, we need some perspective on the figures. First they are estimates using accepted European or international models. I don't knock those as such, but just bear in mind it's an estimate.

Second, using a similar European model for the cost to society of obestity, we get a figure of €4 billion a year cost to the state. Given the report on alcohol puts the cost of alcohol at €3.4 billion, does that not mean obesity is a bigger issue that we need to address?

Link to report here on obestity here:

http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament...earch/spotlights/spotObesity071111_150658.pdf


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## blueband (2 May 2013)

none of these figures have any real evidence to back them up, they are just plucked out of thin air by nanny state do gooders!
yeah sure put up the price of drink to discourage the young people from buying it.....after all it worked so well when they did it with cigarettes!!


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## One (7 May 2013)

Latrade said:


> Does that not mean obesity is a bigger issue that we need to address?


 
This seems like yet another difficult problem to address! Who would want to be a politician in this day and age? Such a diffucult job!


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## Purple (7 May 2013)

Latrade said:


> does that not mean obesity is a bigger issue that we need to address?


We should address it but why not do both?


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