Pressure from MPs and health lobby groups is building on the Government to impose further curbs on the advertising of alcohol and high fat, salt and sugar foods (HFSS).
A 9pm TV watershed has been mooted, which it has been estimated could cost broadcasters £250m a year in lost revenue.
This renewed assault on TV advertisers coincides with a report by media regulator Ofcom and the Advertising Standards Authority on the impact of the changes to the Advertising Code implemented in 2005, intended to lessen alcohol's appeal to under-18s.
Largely, the results were positive for the advertising industry - children and young adults are being exposed to fewer alcohol ads on TV. Between 2002 (when the need for reforms were first mooted) and 2006, such commercial impacts fell by 39% among 10 to 15-year-olds and 31% for the 16 to 24 age range.
However, there has been a significant increase in the number of people who feel the ads encourage people to drink. In 2005, 25% of young people thought this was true; in 2007 that number had risen to 34%. And, on the back of a huge increase in cider advertising, cider drinking by young people has flourished.
Watershed ban
This has only added fuel to the recently formed Alcohol Health Alliance's fire. The lobby group, which came together two weeks ago, is made up of 25 medical organisations or alcohol charities.
Their lobbying for a pre-9pm watershed ban on alcohol is only the start. Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians and chairman of the Alliance, says: "We are calling for a watershed with a view in the longer term to a move to the position in France of a total ban.
"There is not enough evidence to say one advertising medium is more effective than another, but we do know (from the recent report) that broadcast affects young people. Obesity and alcohol are huge public health problems. We do not have a single solution, but have to change the culture."
The Department of Health is awaiting the results of an independent review examining the evidence between alcohol price, promotion and harm. A DoH spokesman says: "Depending on the review, the Government has indicated that it is prepared to consult on the need for regulatory change, including legislation if this proves to be necessary."
Meanwhile, Ofcom is content with the current restrictions in place on TV alcohol advertising. A spokesman explains: "We consider the strengthened rules to be proportionate to minimise the exposure of under-18s to alcohol advertisements."
David Poley, chief executive of the Portman Group, which represents alcohol companies, met Prime Minister Gordon Brown last week, together with health bodies. He says: "No decisions were made. We're looking forward to further discussions with the Government."
For the time being, Brown is said to favour self-regulation by the drinks industry.
Richard Oliver, head of investment at Universal McCann, predicts a 9pm watershed would present a major problem. "Broadcasters, especially those channels that rely on sport throughout the day, would struggle to accommodate the alcohol advertising they carry if it all had to go behind after 9pm. The bottom line is that less alcohol money will be spent with TV."
Gary Digby, managing director of ITV Customer Relations, agrees, adding: "We'll lose revenue if a watershed came in. They regulate only TV because we hold licences. They need to regulate every other media too."
Earlier this year, new controls were placed on HFSS advertising to children, banning ads around programmes aimed at four to nine-year-olds, from 1 April and to children up to the age of 15 from January 2008.
Funding issue
Nick Bampton, managing director of Viacom Brand Solutions, estimates an 18% decline of £42m in TV ad spend on HFSS brands since 2003,when the restrictions started being discussed.
And the curbs have made funding of kids' programmes more difficult. Martin Stott, Five's head of regulatory affairs, says: "We've always said the economics of kids' programmes are fragile and it would be foolish to say the HFSS restrictions haven't had an impact."
Bampton is spearheading a lobby to get the Government to orchestrate ad campaigns that promote healthy eating to replace the HFSS ads. "Advertising could be used as a force for good if government and regulators assisted getting alternative brands on air, such as non-HFSS recyclable products."
He adds: "Advertising is seen as the enemy, when actually it could be the start of the solution."
ALCOHOL ADVERTISING ON TV
The 2005 Committee of Advertising Practice Code says that ads should not:
- Suggest that alcohol can contribute to an individual's popularity or be linked with anti-social behaviour or daring
- Invoke seduction or sexual activity
- Promote alcoholic strength or encourage excessive drinking
- Appeal strongly to under-18s or be associated with youth culture
- Be directed at people under 18 through the selection of media, style of presentation, music, content or context in which they appear
- Be advertised adjacent to children's programmes or those appealing particularly to audiences under 18
- Use actors who look under 25 or who are behaving in an adolescent or juvenile way.