Right: drinking and driving? Ironically, motor sport is still supported by alcohol advertising.
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Arguments in favour of phasing out alcohol sponsorship of sports and advertising during sports telecasts
1. Excessive alcohol consumption is a serious public health and safety issue in Australia
In 2003, Australia was ranked 23rd for per capita alcohol consumption among 45 nations. It was estimated that in 2006/07, Australians aged 15 years and older consumed an average of 9.85 litres of pure alcohol per person. The level of per capita alcohol consumption in a community is generally related to the number and severity of alcohol related problems, such as traffic accidents, accidental falls and other accidents, illness, assaults and other crimes.
Alcohol related problems are recognised by the National Health and Medical Research Council as one of Australia's most serious health issues. Risky and high risk alcohol consumption is estimated to have caused 3,494 deaths and over 1,000,000 total hospital bed days in 2004/2005. An estimated 4.9% of Australia's total disease burden is a result of excessive alcohol consumption. Hazardous and harmful alcohol use is second to tobacco as a preventable cause of death and hospitalisation. Additionally, alcohol use is a large factor in motor vehicle accidents, falls, drowning, burns, suicide, occupational injuries, interpersonal violence, domestic violence and child abuse.
Alcohol can affect people other than the drinker. For example, in 2007, over 42% of adult Australians reported being either verbally or physically abused in the previous 12 months by someone under the influence of alcohol.
The most recent national survey of Australian drinking patterns estimated that about 10% of people aged 14 years and older drink at levels which place them at risk or high risk of long-term harm from alcohol (for example, developing cancer or alcoholic liver cirrhosis).
2. Advertising promotes consumption of alcohol
The Australian Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance in its position statement on the promotion of alcohol states, 'Research increasingly confirms that there is a small but consistent association between alcohol advertising and overall levels of alcohol consumption and related harms. However, the position of the industry is that alcohol advertising is designed only to increase a product's market share rather than increasing total consumption.'
The Alliance counters industry claims by stating, 'Earlier research, particularly econometric studies which are subject to methodological limitations, yielded mixed results in relation to the impact of advertising on total alcohol consumption. However, recent studies using more sophisticated methodologies provide stronger evidence that alcohol advertising leads to higher overall alcohol consumption.'
The Alliance claims that research suggests that alcohol advertising is most likely to affect the consumption of young alcohol consumers. It states, 'The strongest evidence relates in particular to the impact on young people, including children and adolescents. Studies consistently show that exposure to alcohol advertising and promotion is linked to a significantly increased likelihood that young people will start to drink alcohol and that those that already drink will drink more heavily.
Referring to United States research, the Alliance notes, 'A US study of the impact of advertising exposure among 15-26 year olds found that for each additional advertisement in the average number of advertisements seen, the number of alcoholic drinks consumed increased by 1% and for each additional dollar spent on alcohol advertising per capita the number of drinks consumed increased by 3%. The effects of exposure were also cumulative with youth in markets with more alcohol advertising continuing to increase drinking levels into their late twenties while drinking levels for those exposed to less advertising plateaued in their early twenties.'
3. Advertising associated with sport is particularly likely to attract children and teenagers
The Public Health Association Australia has noted that research on alcohol advertising suggests that adolescents and children are a uniquely vulnerable audience. The evidence indicates that advertising and other positive media portrayals of alcohol are significantly reinforcing factors and help 'normalise' alcohol consumption in the eyes of young potential drinkers. The content of advertising for ready-to-drink beverages has been found to contain messages regarding the 'benefits' of consumption in social and sexual attractiveness that appeal to not only young but under-age drinkers.
In 2009, the World Health Organisation stated, 'Generally, there is a dose-response relationship between young people's exposure to alcohol marketing and the likelihood that they will start to drink or drink more. The greater the exposure, the greater the impact.'
Critics of allowing alcohol manufactures to advertise during sporting telecasts or to sponsor sporting clubs, associations or fixtures have noted that sport is a high prestige activity for many young people, epitomising qualities of excitement, success and mateship which they desire. Associating alcohol consumption with this set of values is likely to increase its attractiveness to young people.
Currently many young people watch televised sport. Oztam data (the television industry's own ratings data generator) shows that a very large number of young people watch sport on television. 376,000 children aged 0-17 years in capital cities alone watched the 2014 AFL grand final; 342,000 watched the NRL grand final; and 332,000 watched the FIFA World Cup match between Australia and Chile, representing 19% of the total audience.
Critics have expressed concern that exposure in such numbers makes children vulnerable to the advertising of alcohol which is permitted during live sporting telecasts and to the brand recognition factor which comes with the sponsorship of such fixtures by alcohol manufacturers.
4. Participation in sport promotes qualities that are not consistent with alcohol consumption
Increasingly, participation in sport is being associated with improving public health.
The Australian Government's Department of Health recommends that for health benefits, young people aged 13-17 years should accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity every day.
The recommendations further suggest that young people's physical activity should include a variety of aerobic activities, including some vigorous intensity activity; that on at least three days per week, young people should engage in activities that strengthen muscle and bone; that to achieve additional health benefits, young people should engage in more activity - up to several hours per day.
One of the suggestions made as to how such exercise targets can be met is that young people participate in competitive sport.
Health experts are concerned that associating alcohol with sporting activities sends a dangerously mixed message.
In an article published in the Medical Journal of Australia in September, 2005, Yvonne Bonomo stated, 'Mixed messages are delivered on a daily basis when drink-driving advertisements brand people over the legal limit of blood alcohol concentration as "bloody idiots" while prominent personalities in sport and entertainment who drink to excess are, in effect, applauded for their entertainment value.'
In 2009, Professor Gerard Hastings stated, 'The favourable emotions and images which consumers have of the [sporting] event itself transfer to the sponsoring brand, creating an unthinking association in consumers' minds between the event and the brand, positive attitudes, and emotional connections.'
In 2012, the Australian Medical Association warned of the mixed message of associating alcohol consumption with the power, prestige and health associated with high level sporting competitions. The Association stated, 'Sports sponsorship...serves to link alcohol with sporting prowess, fitness and masculinity.'
This is sometimes referred to as the 'halo effect', whereby the health-giving qualities of one activity or situation are falsely associated with another activity or situation which is actually injurious to health.
Kerry O'Brien, the head of Behavioural Studies at Monash University, has explained the phenomenon in this way, 'Pairing a healthy activity, such as sport, with an otherwise unhealthy product, such as alcohol or fast food, makes that product seem less unhealthy and more acceptable and normal.'
5. Current regulations regarding the advertising of alcohol on television are inadequate and are likely to be relaxed further
The current regulations supposed to restrict the advertising of alcohol on television have been condemned as inadequate.
Public Health Association Australia has noted that voluntary advertising codes controlled by the advertising and alcohol industries were established with the promise that the industries would be responsible in their marketing approaches.
Numerous breaches of the codes have been documented, but have generally failed to move governments into taking more strict action. A study of complaints dismissed by the national Advertising Standards Board found that independent reviewers rated seven of the nine advertisements as breaching voluntary industry codes, suggesting that self-regulation was inadequate and biased towards discouraging and dismissing complaints.
It has also been noted that there are weaknesses the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice which allow for alcohol advertising. There is a loophole in current regulations that put no limit on the amount of alcohol advertised during weekend sports broadcasts or special live broadcasts.
A 2013 analysis tallied the amount of alcohol advertising shown during the NRL finals series and the AFL grand final, Australia's most watched sporting event. The analysis found more than 18 per cent of the NRL's grand final broadcast contained some form of alcohol promotion. The 2012 AFL grand final featured a similar amount of alcohol advertising. While traditional commercials accounted for just five per cent of all alcohol marketing in the broadcasts, integrated advertising, including sponsor-related advertising, was weaved throughout the games.
Similar findings were made in 2014. A report by Cancer Council Victoria and the University of Wollongong reveals that viewers were exposed to more than 4600 incidents of alcohol promotion, during three of the five One Day International (ODI) cricket games in the 2013/14 season. This included ads during commercial breaks, fixed and electronic banner signage within the stadium, live announcements, broadcast sponsorship announcements, logos on players' uniforms and team banners, among other marketing tactics.
The research also reveals that during one of the T20 games analysed, one in every four ads shown was for an alcohol product or retailer.