Advertising that appeals to teenagers, links alcohol with sexual and sporting success,uk watches, and encourages questionable standards of taste and morality has been heaviliy criticised by social commentators and health professionals.
They argue that such advertising seriously violates a corporate duty of care towards the Australian community.
In recent years, alcohol consumption has been promoted on Australian television through commercials with overtly sexual themes. In one such ad, a talking polar bear and a group of men eavesdrop on a young woman sitting at a bar. She credits alcohol with success in finding casual sex,and the men make no secret of the fact that this is what they like to hear.
Another commercial shows a young woman lifting her T-shirt and flaunting her breasts to a young man she has just beaten in a game.
A recent beer poster depicted a drawing of a young and attractive woman holding a bottle of beer in one hand and lifting her dress with the other.
These types of beer promotions, clearly designed to attract young drinkers, evoke subtle, but unrealistic sexual expectations associated with drinking alcohol and contribute to unhealthy relationships.
In an approach to sell alcohol to young people, hundreds of thousands of leaflets were used to promote web sites that encouraged school leavers to join a party with a particular alcoholic beverage.
Another web site posted by a large Australian beer manufacturer promoted free beer to fuel university student parties and offered the chance to become a "Citizen of the Keg."
Sport is an important part of many people's lives and sports venues have been targeted by alcohol manufactures for promotion of their products, thereby building an association between sport, sporting heros and alcohol to boost sales.
However, the link between alcohol consumption and antisocial behaviour at these venues has become so obvious that in 2003 the New South Wales Police Association took the unprecedented step of asking for alcohol to be banned at major sporting venues.
The police association cited examples of very attractive young women, with the names of alcoholic products printed across their bikini bottoms, selling alcohol at sports venues.
A similar social problem exists with the new ranges of alcoholic beverages that look like soft drinks and appeal to younger and, in particular, female drinkers. These drinks are often referred to as "Alcopops"
Some bottles of these premixed drinks, which are often brightly coloured and usually contain vodka or bourbon,Rolex, have the words Cola or Lemonade in far larger print than other words on the label.
The promotion of these products in this way is another example of corporate violations of duty of care, and should be stopped.
Clearly, the present situation of alcohol trading is unacceptable in terms of the health and social costs the community is required to bear.
Measures to limit the availability of alcohol?such as through licensing drinkers, banning advertisements, banning discounted drinks and free entertainment, banning drink-driving and so on?will go a long way toward reducing the cost of alcohol to society.
While these control measures are essential, they will not, by themselves, reduce the social and health costs of alcohol to an acceptable level.
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