New Ad Guidelines To Clamp Down On Teen Drinking

The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), responsible for the UK advertising codes, has published new rules and guidance for alcohol advertising, seeking to address public concerns over the promotion of under-age and irresponsible drinking.

The guidelines follow a public consultation and are published by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP). The new television advertising rules are tougher in four main areas, with the implication that drinking alcohol is essential to a successful social occasion prohibited, along with the linking of sex with alcohol, the usage of “youth culture” in drinks advertising and the requirement that alcohol be handled and served responsibly in commercials.

The CAP has also published guidelines for the advertising of alcohol in non-broadcast advertisements, with changes to the non-broadcast rules including a requirement for alcohol to be handled and served responsibly, for people shown drinking to behave in an adult way, with ads no longer reflecting the culture of people under 18, and for no links to be made between alcohol and seduction, sexual activity or sexual success.

All alcohol advertising appearing from 1 October will need to be compliant with the new rule requirements.

Commenting on the new code, BCAP and CAP chairman, Andrew Brown, said: “These new rules demonstrate the benefits of the new system of regulation. The one-stop shop allows complementary consideration of changes to the rules for non-broadcast, radio and television advertisements, providing advertisers with a clearer indication of what is acceptable in their advertising.”

The new rules can be found in Codes section of the CAP website.

Last year saw Ofcom tighten the rules governing alcohol advertising on television following a prolonged consultation period with advertisers and industry trade bodies. The regulator’s revised code significantly strengthened the existing rules on the promotion of alcohol, banning several widely used advertising strategies and seeking to protect the under-18s from adverse advertising-based influences (see Ofcom Finalises Revamped Alcohol Advertising Code).

Committee of Advertising Practice: 020 7492 2222 www.cap.org.uk