Big Alcohol: New Marketing Tools
Big Alcohol is using new and attractive marketing latoolsbels which are appealing to underage kids in Australia.
The alcohol industry’s regulator says marketers are using frozen vodka ice blocks and cheap ciders labelled with rainbows, unicorns and cartoons to encourage under-age Australians to use alcohol. This has sparked strong calls by public health advocates for an independent watchdog to regulate the industry.
The alcohol industry is regulated under the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code Scheme, a voluntary organisation which administers the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code. Decisions made under the code are non-binding.
According to the industry’s own Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code, packaging that has strong appeal to minors is prohibited. Despite this the alcohol industry is marketing products which are appealing to children.
Examples are:
- Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Nitro Milkshake beer,
- Slim Chillers frozen wine cocktails called Skinny Freezes which mimics popular children’s treat Zooper Dooper ice blocks,
- Little Fat Lamb’s “brewed fantasy” cider with guarana – packaged in a 1.25 litre bottle with a label featuring a cartoon unicorn and shimmery rainbow backdrop – which was on the market for three months before ABAC ruled it breached the code only recently.
Public health advocates argue that self-regulation of the alcohol industry had failed and should be replaced with a national watchdog with the power to make binding orders and punish those who broke the rules.
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