LONDON – The long-awaited health select committee report on alcohol abuse has called for tighter restrictions for drinks marketing, including the introduction of a 9pm watershed for TV advertising, but has stopped short of calling for a blanket ban.
Instead MPs have turned their attention to the price of alcohol. The report, made public today, recommends that government introduce a minimum pricing regime, a measure which is bound to annoy supermarkets who believe they should have the freedom to set their own prices without state interference. MPs say a minimum price of 50p per unit would save 3,000 lives per year.
The wide-ranging report devotes a chapter to ‘Marketing and the drinks industry’. It raises concerns that alcohol marketing vastly outspends government alcohol awareness campaigns.
According to the report, drinks brands spend up to £800m a year on advertising and sponsorship, dwarfing the COI spend of £17.6m.
Read more at the UK Marketing Magazine.
