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Time, advertising, please?

Posted in Advertising, Marketing, Oliver Milman, Latest reporters' blogs June 4th, 2007 by Oliver Milman

Judging by the Portman Group’s latest guidelines on drinks marketing, it could not be long before the industry slowly follows tobacco down the road of taboo advertising.

The latest rules by the industry body stresses the need to put the message ‘Please drink responsibly’ (which in another age would mean not spilling on your, or anyone else’s, clothing) on all grog-filled bottles and cans.

There is also a solemn request to ensure that internet users face the terrifying hurdle of being asked for their date of birth before being allowed to enter drinks brands’ websites.

Those dense enough to somehow fall foul of this electronic doorman will be patronisingly shoved to an alcohol education website, which is a little like Microsoft Word picking up on grammatical mistakes by pointing users to a dyslexia helpline.

So, not only are brands’ television and print ads tightly curbed, but the pressure is mounting on the digital and packaging tools too.

It’s not inconceivable that within five years every bottle of beer will carry a massive, cigarette-style, warning proclaiming ‘Alcohol rots your liver and makes you gibber nonsense’ while visitors to StellaArtois.com will be greeted by a single page screaming ‘What are you doing here you shameful drunken lout?’

As alcoholic drinks are not meant to link drinks to any sort of sexual or social success, it makes you wonder how new brands trying to make big initial impressions with specific demographics will fare.

This week saw the launch of Maguires, a new cider brand from Halewood. Unthinkable even three years ago, Maguires has a pear variant aimed squarely at women, who now don’t immediately associate cider with cross-eyed vagrants and park-dwelling youths. Differentiating Halewood’s standard and pear versions to the public without falling foul of a drinks marketing law could prove difficult.

The current regulations may be tolerable for the big brands, who can afford television campaigns encouraging people not to get too sloshed while subtly promoting themselves at the same time. However, won’t smaller brands looking to break through into the public consciousness have to tread carefully?