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London (pte022/18.04.2005/11:00) - Leading drinks manufacturers are claiming that new TV advertising rules will prevent them from making alcohol-related public health or safety adverts. As the Media Guardian http://www.mediaguardian.co.uk reports, The Portman Group, which represents drinks firms, is calling for changes to the rules they say will stop them from making hard-hitting adverts that show irresponsible drinking to make a point about public health. "If the rules relating to such advertisements are unduly restrictive, either the advertisements will lack impact or companies will decide not to produce them at all," said the Portman Group last week. "We consider that the code should not be used to deter drinks companies from producing effective campaigns designed solely to promote responsible attitudes and behaviour."
Last year Ofcom, the regulator, asked the Broadcast Committee for Advertising Practice (BCAP) to issue new guidance on its TV alcohol advertising rules. The regulator handed responsibility for advertising regulation to the Advertising Standards Authority on November 1. However, the industry complained that the original set of rules was too restrictive. BCAP, which creates the rules that the ASA enforces, issued new guidance in March that largely met with the industry approval. The deadline for submissions on the proposals was last week. It has also given the drinks companies until June 6 to make submissions on a new health and dietary rule that bans low-carb beers from marketing themselves as part of a healthy lifestyle.
As the Media Guardian reports, The Portman Group also took issue with a rule barring the depiction of drinking in an "environment that is hazardous". It said that this could prevent adverts being set in environments such as a desert or a jungle or even a balcony, and asked for a change to the notes to reflect an environment that is hazardous to drinking. The group also complained that a ban on associating alcohol with "daring behaviour" was too vague because it linked daring with "feats that would be considered unsuitable or out of the ordinary". BCAP hopes to publish the approved guidance notes by June and the new health and dietary rule by August. The new rules come into effect on October 1.
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