Industry defends alcohol adverts against "slurs and innuendos
Accusations that alcohol advertisers are "pushing the boundaries" by appealing to youngsters have been strongly denied by the industry.
The Portman Group hit back after the British Medical Journal and an academic warned that self-regulation for advertising is failing.
Professor Gerard Hastings, director of the Institute of Social Marketing at Stirling University, analysed documents made available in the recent Health Committee inquiry into alcohol and raised concerns with his findings.
He claimed brands such as WKD want to attract "new 18 year-olds" and that Carling is "the first choice for the festival virgin".
Hastings' team also analysed internal marketing documents and again raised concerns that brands can promote social success or masculinity of femininity - despite this being banned under advertising codes.
However Portman Group chief executive David Poley slammed the professor's "slurs and innuendos".
He said: "Gerard Hastings trawled through thousands of pages of internal company marketing documents on behalf of the Health Committee. He failed to find any evidence of malpractice. He therefore resorts to slurs and innuendos.
"We wish Gerard Hastings would publish his criticisms in an advert. The Advertising Standards Authority could then rightly ban it for being misleading."
And Mark Hunter, chief executive of Carling brewer Molson Coors (UK), said: "We think it is a shame that in a week when we should be focused on the positive policy proposals and public debate on key ways to reduce alcohol harm such sensational assertions are being made.
"Molson Coors (UK) is pleased to see the recent policy proposals are focused on targeting disrespectful, harmful attitudes towards alcohol, without punishing the responsible consumer. (Such as including strengthening age verification and a serious look at minimum pricing to address "loss leader" retailer sales.)
"We agree that binge and underage drinking should not be socially acceptable, or enabled. It is an ambition for the Carling brand to be social glue: we believe that sociability and respect are both fundamental parts in responsibly enjoying our products within our communities."
Karen Salters, joint managing director of Beverage Brands, which owns WKD, said: "We would like to echo the sentiments of the Portman Group's response to the BMJ article. All WKD advertising follows the tight regulations already in place and is pre-cleared by the relevant authorities."
In an editorial that runs alongside a story about Hastings' findings, British Medical Journal deputy editor Trish Groves calls for a clampdown on alcohol promotions and the introduction of minimum pricing - a measure some sectors of the industry also support.
She writes: "It is time to put away the rhetoric, popular with the drinks industry, that alcohol misuse is largely an individual problem best avoided and managed through education, counselling and medical treatment.
"Instead the UK needs to embrace the idea that the health and societal costs of alcohol misuse are best prevented through legislation on pricing and marketing."
