Another thing they do very well is hoover up ex-TDs [ teachta dála – members of the Irish parliament ’ s lower house ] or ex-senators and employ them as lobbyists . We see a lot of that .’
As many have pointed out , the alcohol industry ’ s playbook is not dissimilar to that of the gambling sector – that the problem lies with a small group of people who don ’ t use the products responsibly ( DDN , December / January , page 11 ).
‘ It ’ s always about putting the responsibility onto the individual , and trying to ensure that the business which profits from the sale of its product or services isn ’ t held in any way responsible ,’ says Gilheany . ‘ It ’ s a deeply unfair thing , especially when this is an industry that has tried very hard to hide evidence of the harms .’
Large numbers of people are still unaware of many of the risks related to alcohol , she points out – ‘ whether that ’ s cancer or other harms , and they ’ re certainly encouraged to drink alcohol in a way that ’ s even more likely to cause those harms because of the saturation marketing . You see all this stuff about responsible drinking and we ’ d be always saying , “ Well , what about responsible trading and marketing ?”
MARKETING PERCEPTION Aside from its ubiquity , alcohol marketing affects everyone ’ s perception of the product as it ’ s ‘ always shown as a risk-free activity that ’ s often central to things that are important to you ’, she states ‘– whether that ’ s sport or music or family or friends , or in our case national identity .’
Indeed , Ireland has long had an image as a country where booze can be seen as inextricably linked with having a good time – something that the drinks industry is inevitably keen to promote . ‘ The tourist board here frequently does surveys , and people say they mainly come for things like the scenery ,’ she says . ‘ Obviously they may well drink while they ’ re here , but it ’ s not the primary reason they visit . The industry will also claim that it ’ s essential to Ireland ’ s economy , whether that ’ s trade or tourism or employment . But if you look at the facts , Ireland ’ s alcohol exports are about 1 per cent of total exports , so it ’ s a tiny fraction of our economic activity .’ And when it comes to employment the industry will also ‘ count every possible job and ascribe it to alcohol ’, she says . ‘ They always include hotels and restaurants , even though those aren ’ t businesses that are solely dependent on the sale of alcohol .’
‘ The industry will always say things like it ’ s only at very high levels of alcohol consumption that there ’ s any possible problems , but that ’ s not the case . They ’ re certainly continuing to do that , and they ’ ve certainly sought meetings with government officials and ministers . Another thing they do very well is hoover up ex- [ members of the Irish parliament ’ s lower house ], or ex-senators and employ them as lobbyists .’
Dr Sheila Gilheany is chief executive officer at Alcohol Action Ireland . She has a background in physics , extensive experience in policy development and advocacy and has led a range of not-for-profit organisations in science , education , public engagement and social enterprise . She is also chair of the board of directors of Specialisterne Ireland , an organisation which supports the employment of people with autism . Profile at www . alcoholireland . ie
While industry pushback on everything from MUP to tackling sports sponsorship or product labelling is inevitable , the general public are actually behind many of these things , she points out . ‘ Typically when we do polling for things like restrictions in advertising – such as the broadcast watershed – you ’ d have more than 70 per cent in favour . And that ’ s really not surprising , because of the scale of the problem here . There ’ s no family that ’ s been left untouched by an alcohol issue – people are harmed in a multitude of ways . So there ’ s not really anyone saying , “ I want to see more alcohol ads ”. But of course we do see more alcohol ads .’
DEEP INDUSTRY POCKETS It ’ s always instructive to look at advertising as a proportion of industry spend , she says . ‘ If you ’ re a typical business – you ’ re selling coffee , you ’ re selling shoes – you ’ d probably spend about 10 per cent of your turnover on marketing . That ’ s kind of an industry standard . But the alcohol industry spends much , much more . Diageo was spending in the order of 18 , 19 per cent of turnover at one point .’
And it ’ s these very deep industry pockets when it comes to advertising and marketing that create another significant issue , she says , and one that ’ s rarely discussed . ‘ It means you have a whole other industry – actually two industries – very much bound up in this product . You have marketers and marketing companies , but you also have the publishers . Whether that ’ s online , print , TV or radio , they ’ ve become very big players in all this .’
It ’ s taken almost seven years since the pre-watershed restrictions were signed into law for them finally to come into force , and while the
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