QUESTION TIME
uestiontime
Thismonth’s question:Whatimpactwouldthe LoiÉvinmodelhaveontheFMCGindustry?
Earlier this year the Health Committee and a group ofMPs called for a ban on the advertising of alcohol on TV, in cinemas and in sport. Alcohol companies were accused of neglecting their duty to reduce health harm caused by excessive drinking. The new proposal is
modelled on the French alcohol policy law, the Loi Évin. The controversial law was passed in 1991 and takes its name from Claude Évin, the then Minister of Health. Although direct
advertising of alcohol and tobacco had been outlawed in France since 1974 the introduction of the Loi Evin law was an extreme development. In July of this year Russia placed an even more severe ban on alcohol advertising in the media. The ban will see alcohol advertising on TV, radio, the internet, public transport, billboards and across print media prohibited. The Loi Évin's effects
on alcohol issues are highly contested so this Question Time we're asking, what impact would the Loi Evin model have on the UK fmcg industry? Panel, over to you...
TimWallwork ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT, EMEA BROWN-FORMAN
Those calling for a UK Évin-style model of marketing regulation; restricting communications to a prescribed list of product-based claims and restricting the scope for brand sponsorships, should examine the assumptions on which their calls are made, and stay mindful of the law of unintended consequences. Alcoholic drinks have been
subject to Évin regulation in France since 1991. Yet, while per capita alcohol consumption in France has been falling, this only reflects a Europe-wide downward trend, and consumption levels in France remain higher than in the UK. There is no evidence that Évin regulation has beenmore, or less, impactful in this area relative to other systems of regulation. Thus, at a very basic level, it is
difficult to see the public health argument for transferring it to these shores. In addition to the doubt as to
whether it achieves its public health aims, there are also key concerns around the potentially anti-competitive effects of the Evin law, the knock-on impact on the creative industries and the inhibition of producer social responsibility activity. The Évin law had its genesis
in a competition context. Prior French law discriminated against foreign products and legal action by Scotch whisky producers prompted change. Today’s law arose as a result of the requirement that alcohol laws be re-cast. Proponents of the Évin law suggest that restricting
16 | FMCG News |
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marketing to objective statements concerning product and production levels the playing field between larger and smaller brands, old and new, but critics of the law detect a surviving anti-competitive dynamic. Restricting alcohol brands to
communicating in the permitted Évin dimension only entrenches the position of brands with established equity in the market, products that have ‘credentials, not concepts’ and those with ‘terroir’ or ‘appellation’ claims to make. The scope for new market entrants to compete on a brand values or conceptual basis is severely limited, and consumer choice suffers as a result. Creativity suffers too. It is true
that the challenge ofmarketing products within the Évin framework is one whichmany creative professionals continue to meet with exemplary skill, fortitude andmarked success - at Brown-Forman, we are proud that sales of our Jack Daniel’s TennesseeWhiskey achieved significant annual growth in France over the last 10 years. But there can be no doubt that the development of the French marketing services industry is done a huge disservice, as opportunities to earn revenue and provide employment are lost. Finally, returning to the public
health debate, it is clear that the restricted scope for communication also diminishes producers’ ability to use their brands ‘for good’; inhibiting brands from adopting and communicating social responsibility platforms or messages, which might rely on the presentation and encouragement of positive lifestyle choices. The ban on sports sponsorships,
in particular, presents a barrier to engaging the French public through the implementation of high profile responsible drinking initiatives,which benefit from significant producer investment in othermarkets.
Joanna Davies CEO, ZAKMEDIA GROUP LIMITED
It seems that yet again advertising and marketing are being used as scapegoats to what is ultimately a deep-rooted cultural issue, not a marketing communications one. In the UK today, alcohol is
cited as a factor in one in three sexual offences, one in three burglaries and one in two street crimes. Alcohol is responsible for 6,500 deaths per year and a cost of £3bn to the National Health Service. There are clearly issues with binge drinking in the UK that need to be urgently addressed, but can advertising really be held responsible for society’s reckless and destructive behaviour?Would banning all alcohol advertising and sponsorship really have the profound effect the Commons Health Select Committee seem to believe? How influential can
advertising really be to the behaviour of John, a 40 year old man in a deprived part of the country with no job and limited opportunities? Is his reason for drinking to excess notmore related to the fact he is unemployed, has little job prospects and is struggling to keep his family together? Is John not drinking to excess to escape his situation for a few hours? How influential can advertising and sponsorship of booze really
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