‘Drink and sex’ ads broke rules

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Title – ‘Drink and sex’ ads broke rules
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date 11th March 2009

The advertising and promotion of alcohol is now closely monitored across England and Wales and soon to be even more strictly so in Scotland with the new regulation being proposed (see

Scotland to end ‘pocket money’ prices for drink).

Everyone who works within the Licensed Retail Sector must be aware of the standards and stay within the guidelines, as failure to do so not only invites potential prosecution, but in individual cases can lead to premises licence reviews. It is these individual cases and other like it where industry codes are ignored, which will eventually be pounced upon by legislators as justification for further punitive legislation on the industry as a whole.

We cover the guidance for alcohol promotion on several of our courses including the National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) and the National Certificate for Designated Premises Supervisors (NCDPS). We explain the need to avoid promotions which encourage excessive drinking or which link alcohol to; physical or sporting achievement, sexual fulfilment or increased sexual performance, driving in any form, employment progression and health benefits.

In this example the adverts were, according to the Advertising Standards Authority, considered to be in breach of the social responsibility rules as they linked the consumption of alcohol directly to sex.

As an industry I think we need to be more creative than we maybe have sometimes been in the past. I worked in the Student environment for many years and they are much more sophisticated than they are sometimes given credit for. Undoubtedly some of the clichés are correct, but anyone who has been through higher education will look back fondly on a time in their life which is unique and smile. This is a time of life where it is possible to be idealistic without a reality check and a time where creativity is encouraged and boundaries are pushed. The greatest success stories in advertising directly to this demographic have not resorted to the use of sex or heavy discounting; value is important, but value and discounting are two very separate marketing strategies.

Innovation is the key, understanding student’s curiosity, their creativity, their sense of humour and their energy will enable your product to stand out; placing yourself and your product into the quagmire of discounting and sexual innuendo that swamps the student market will not get you noticed. Your customers will make use of the discounts if they already frequent your premises, but will the discounts actually increase the customer base to the same degree your margins are cut…? That is another question.

Our many years of experience in the University sector gives us a unique insight into this demographic. Through our Consultancy Service we can help you to make the most of the opportunities available in this substantial market.

At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for those working in the licensed retail sector to help them sell alcohol more responsibly. These include; The Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR) designed for front-line staff to help them meet their statutory requirements; The National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) which qualifies candidates to apply for their personal licence; Our Conflict Management and Resolution (CMR) course compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.

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