Competition in the alcohol industry will be destroyed if government officials succeed in banning alcohol advertising in South Africa – not only will it freeze the market share of the two largest players – Distell and South African Breweries Miller – but it will also ruin many of the smaller alcohol producers, says the Industry Association for Responsible Alcohol Use (ARA).

Further, the association does not agree with the viewpoint that a ban on alcohol advertising would curb alcohol abuse, as it will only lead to job losses in the alcohol and advertising industries.

A conservative estimate reflected that about 2 500 direct jobs would be lost, depriving about 30 000 South Africans of an income, with a loss in value-added tax of about R280-million and a short-term drop in branded liquor consumption of 5% to 8%, reported a preliminary study conducted in 2011 by independent marketing analyst Chris Moerdyk.

Following the release of the figures for road fatalities, which amounted to 1 100 over the December 2012 holiday period, a call to ban alcohol advertising was made by government officials at the African National Congress’s elective conference, in Mangaung, in December 2012.

A total ban on the advertising of alcoholic beverages could lose media companies revenue of as much as R1.8-billion a year, according to the study.

“To effectively deal with the problem of alcohol abuse, a holistic solution must be implemented. This would include enforcing the existing legislation, such as the legal drinking age and the drink-and-drive policy, education to encourage attitude change, industry self-regulation, and individual behavioural responsibility,” states ARA spokesperson Adrian Botha.

Banning alcohol advertising would remove the public’s freedom of choice, he stresses. “It would negatively impact on employment and the income of media owners, agencies and sports bodies, which, in turn, will negatively impact on sports development at all levels and ultimately the ability of sports lovers to watch sport on television.”

Moerdyk’s study also reports that R800-million in sports sponsorships, development grants and forfeited marketing expenditure will be lost.

Further, a ban will lead to losses of about R400-million in revenue for the South African Broadcasting Corporation, about R500-million for digital satellite television and free-to-air broadcaster e.tv and about R900-million for radio, lifestyle magazines and newspapers.

“The World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Strategy does not suggest an advertising ban as is often claimed by some government representatives, nongovern- mental organisations and academics.

“It simply advocates regulating alcohol marketing. The South African government would most definitely be out of step with the WHO if it chose to completely ban alcohol advertising,” Botha points out.

While government quotes France, Norway and Sweden as successful examples of restricted alcohol advertising, a 1999 report by the French Parliament, evaluating the effectiveness of France’s advertising ban, known as Loi Evin, concluded that no effect on alcohol consumption could be established and that it had been ineffective in reducing high-risk drinking patterns, he points out.

In addition, the ban on tobacco advertising in South Africa, implemented in 1999, has not been successful in reducing smoking. A study published in April 2012 by tertiary education institution the University of South Africa Bureau for Market Research reported that smoking had increased among school learners.

“What exacerbates the problem of underage drinking and alcohol abuse is that most alcoholic beverages are sold at unlicensed outlets, such as shebeens, which flourished as a result of black South Africans being forbidden from buying alcoholic beverages elsewhere during apartheid,” Botha points out, adding that, currently, there are about 200 000 shebeens in South Africa.

He adds that increasing the legal drinking age would also not have the desired effect of reducing underage drinking. “Teenagers under 18 consume and abuse alcohol; therefore, it would be futile to raise the legal drinking age from 18 to 21.”

Simply banning alcohol advertising will not reduce the abuse and misuse of alcohol. However, alcohol marketing does require some control and restrictions – hence, the ARA’s stringent Code of Commercial Communication, which determines how alcoholic beverages should be marketed, Botha stresses.

South Africa, as in most, if not all, countries, has a small percentage of people who abuse or misuse alcoholic beverages, he notes, adding that the WHO’s ‘Global Status Report on Alcohol and Heath 2011’ reveals that 62.5% of South Africans are lifetime abstainers.