The report focused on the detriment that alcohol marketing has on the health of young people. Professor Gerard Hastings, the author of the report, claimed that the level of marketing spend within the alcohol industry has led to the British consumer seeing ads for alcohol 'everywhere', which in turn "serve to normalise alcohol as an essential part of every day life".

The industry currently spends a significant figure of £200m on direct advertising and a further £600m on indirect marketing vehicles, such as the sponsorship of sporting events, music festivals and television shows. The report claims that the sponsorship of sporting events or teams "clearly draws connections between alcohol and sporting success."

If the report's recommendations are implemented, events such as these could struggle to operate without the support of these major sponsors. The alcohol industry is the second largest source of sponsorship in the UK, with only to the finance sector spending more. 

The report also calls for the end of the system for voluntary regulation, citing 'major weaknesses', including:- the reliance on consumer complaints; the increasing variety of marketing media young people are exposed to; the amount of advertising dedicated to alcohol - as the major flaws in the current system.

Speaking with MMY Online a spokesperson at Diageo said, "Calling for a total ban on all alcohol marketing communications is an example of trying to find a 'one size fits all' solution to the complex problem of young people drinking. Alcohol advertising is already very tightly regulated and we do not target any marketing to anyone under the age of 18. Not only do we strictly adhere to the Ofcom guidelines covering both the content and placement of alcohol advertising, we go further than this and follow the spirit of the code as well as the letter of it."

Evidence of this strict adherence to the current code has been provided by The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), who this week released a survey on alcoholic drinks advertisements. The survey examined 456 alcohol ads, across various media, over the media and revealed a compliance rate to the current codes of 99%. The report acknowledges that the number of online ads in the survey had almost doubled, suggesting a significant growth of alcoholic drinks ads in this medium, however The ASA stated "despite that growth, no breaches were recorded against online ads, indicating that where the self-regulatory rules apply, advertisers are adhering to them."

www.bma.org.uk

www.diageo.com

www.asa.org.uk