British supermarkets might could soon be banned from advertising cheap alcohol, if current Coalition plans go through. This would imply an end to TV and poster ads pushing cheap alcohol.
The ban is part of the current British administration´s alcohol strategy. This part of the strategy is particularly aimed at national retailers such as Tesco and Asda who regularly promote money-off deals on beer, wine and spirits.
Promotional deals in the form of price stunts have been described as contributing to the increase in binge drinking in the UK. As it is, retailers have put to practice these kinds of advertising around ‘events’ such as football tournaments or holidays in order to drive sales.
One of Prime Minister David Cameron’s aides told The Daily Telegraph: ‘The alcohol strategy will be published in a month or so. The PM has made very clear that he thinks the availability of cheap alcohol is a problem. It is not secret that this is an issue that the PM is concerned about.’
The Prime Minister also plans to introduce a minimum price for alcohol of 40p a unit. An interesting side note is that the Prime Minister is thought to be so keen to push the changes through that he would overrule Andrew Lansley, the health minister, who believes that minimum pricing would hit people on low incomes hardest. An argument Lansley shares with retail associations and drinks producers. However this view is not shared with the Royal College of Physicians, the UK Health Alliance and Alcohol Concern, who last year called for a 50p a unit minimum.
Source: telegraph.co.uk 03/04/12