Module 4 - Alcohol and Sport

Teacher’s Resource
1
Media and Marketing – The marketing of alcohol
4. Alcohol and sport
Alcohol and sport in Australia
Attitudes towards alcohol and drinking behaviours are strongly
familiar with is what people refer to as ‘peer pressure’ – that is, the
feeling that you need to think and act the same was as your friends.
broader social and cultural norms, such as society’s attitudes to
drunkenness and alcohol as a part of celebrations.
In Australia, alcohol consumption of alcohol is often associated
with sport as an important component of post-game celebrations.1
However, it is also associated with the general feeling of being part of
the team. Men in particular are more likely to drink excessively when
socialising with members of their sporting team than other groups
of friends.2
What can be advertised?
The Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC) states that
“advertisements for alcohol beverages must…
d)
not depict any direct association between the consumption
of alcohol beverages, other than low alcohol beverages, and the
operation of a motor vehicle, boat or aircraft or the engagement
in any sport (including swimming and water sports) or potentially
hazardous activity and, accordingly –
i)
any depiction of the consumption of alcohol beverages in
connection with the above activities must not be represented
as having taken place before or during engagement of the activity
in question and must in all cases portray safe practices.”
Australian studies have shown that sports people consume very high
levels of alcohol – more than people who do not play sport – and
that members of male sporting teams feel pressured to drink alcohol
because of the masculine image of sporting activity and ‘mateship’.3
Alcohol advertising and sport
There is evidence from the United States that young people
who watch televised sport are exposed to high levels of alcohol
advertising,4 and that young people who are sports fans drink more
alcohol and experience more alcohol-related problems.5 An analysis
of US media spend showed that the alcohol industry spent more than
$540 million on advertising in sports programs on television.4
Australian data shows that young people aged 13 to 17 years are
exposed to only slightly less television advertising for alcohol than
those aged 18 to 29, with a large proportion of this occurring as a
result of viewing sporting events.6
What are the rules in Australia about alcohol
advertising and sport?
When can alcohol be advertised?
The broadcast of alcohol advertisements on commercial television
in Australia is restricted in order to limit the exposure of young
people to alcohol advertising. Alcohol advertising is only permitted
restricted to between 8:30pm and 5.00am). The one exception to this
is that the broadcast of alcohol advertisements is permitted during the
live broadcast of sporting events on weekends and public holidays.7
Public health agencies and advocacy groups have argued that this
‘exception’ results in alcohol advertising being shown at the time that
children and teenagers are most likely to see it and most likely to be
© NSW Department of Education and Communities
This is a still from a recent television advertisement for an Australian
beer. It shows a group of men playing beach cricket while drinking
This advertisement was not in breach of the Code because the type
of beer they were drinking was a reduced alcohol beer
There is currently disagreement between industry groups and
public health advocates about whether associating alcohol with
sport contravenes the ‘spirit’ of the advertising codes of practice –
particularly as this association extends to sporting stars featuring in
Australian alcohol advertisements (which is not allowed in many other
countries).
Teacher’s Resource
2
Media and Marketing – The marketing of alcohol
Class Activity Alcohol and sport in advertisements
•
As a class (or in small groups) make a list of alcohol
advertisements you have seen that show a relationship between
alcohol and sport.
•
Can you think of advertisements that have sporting stars in them?
•
Why do you think the alcohol advertisers want to use sports stars
in their ads?
Alcohol sponsorship of sport
Alcohol, and the promotion and advertising of alcohol, has been
associated with sporting events for many decades and in most
countries.8 A review of national, regional and club levels sports
sponsorships in New Zealand found that sponsorship of those sports
popular among young people was predominantly from gambling,
alcohol and unhealthy food, with rugby in particular dominated by
alcohol sponsors.9
The sports sponsorship market in Australia is estimated to be worth
$600 million per year, with an average sponsor ‘spend’ of $3.3 million
in 2007.10 It has been estimated that each year $50 million comes
from alcohol companies – making them one of the biggest spending
industries – with 80% invested by three companies, Fosters, Lion
Nathan and Diageo.11
Public health advocates and organizations focused on the wellbeing
of young people are united in their view that alcohol advertising and
alcohol sponsorship are harmful to young people.
The World Health Organization’s European Charter on Alcohol 1995
asserts that:
“All children and adolescents have the right to grow up in an
environment protected from the negative consequences of alcohol
consumption and, to the extent possible, from the promotion of
addressed to young people, for instance, through the linking of
alcohol to sports.”
Centre for Health Initiatives study – Children’s awareness of alcohol
sponsors12
Researchers from the Centre for Health Initiatives conducted six
friendship-pair interviews (three pairs of boys and three pairs of girls)
with children aged 10 to 12 years (grade 5 and 6), recruited from two
public primary schools.
playing sport and watching sport on TV for the children interviewed.
The children associated playing sport with positive life outcomes such
as good health, success and maintaining a healthy weight. Watching
sport on the TV was a regular part of life, especially for boys, and
included a wide variety of sports such as rugby, AFL (Australian Rules
football), soccer and cricket. Most of the children were able to name
favourite teams and players; and many owned merchandise from their
favourite teams.
© NSW Department of Education and Communities
The children were also aware of the concept of sponsorship and were
able to identify the sponsors of the sporting teams, including the
Australian Cricket Team:
Interviewer: What about the Australian Cricket Team do you know
who sponsors them?
Participant: Ahem, yes VB [beer] and Bundaberg [rum].
CASE STUDY:
Alcohol sponsorship of Australian cricket
Foster’s Australia’s VB (Victoria Bitter beer) has had the naming rights
for Australia’s annual one-day cricket series since 2003. Foster’s
Australia launched its ‘VB Boonanza’ campaign in conjunction
with the commencement of the 2005/2006 summer one-day
cricket international series. The prize pool alone was $2.4 million.
The campaign, which included television commercials, online,
sponsorship, point-of-sale and a range of other promotions – was
as a can of beer. ‘Talking Boony’ was a caricature of David Boon, a
timer which enabled him to ‘speak’ during the cricket.
The Boony campaign was criticised by public health advocates for
exploiting Boon’s notoriety as a binge drinker, arguing that such a
of cricket clubs. However, the advertising agency that created
the ‘Boony’ campaign won several prestigious awards for their
‘innovative’ campaign.
Not surprisingly, given the positive response from the industry
and increased consumer sales, in October 2006 Foster’s Australia
announced an extension of the Boony campaign for the 2006/2007
summer cricket series. In 2006/2007, not only did we have ‘Talking
Boony’, we also had ‘Talking Beefy,’ modelled on former English
cricket captain Ian ‘Beefy’ Botham. For the 2007/2008 series, Shane
Warne became the ‘face’ of the VB campaign (and the talking doll).
Teacher’s Resource
3
Media and Marketing – The marketing of alcohol
Cricket sponsorship of Australian alcohol?
Advertising ‘clutter’ is seen as a major problem for advertisers and
sponsors, with companies looking for new ways to stand out and
attract consumer attention – leading to an increase in ‘experiential’
marketing. September 2006 saw the launch of the Fourex (XXXX)
Gold beach cricket campaign (a competitive six-a-side beach cricket
tournament which featured 21 ‘cricket legends’ from Australia,
England and the West Indies). The cricket series was part of the
XXXX Gold beach cricket campaign which included TVCs, a website
featuring an interactive game, themed XXXX Gold packaging with
vouchers for a free cricket ball and discounts on other beach cricket
merchandise, as well the distribution of free beach-cricket kits to
thousands of grassroots cricket teams across Australia.
The 2005/2006 beach cricket ‘competition’ included matches in NSW,
Queensland and Western Australia; and the broadcasts attracted
an average of 347,000 viewers. The 2007/2008 ‘season’ attracted
21,000 spectators to the live events and a far larger audience for the
16 hours of live broadcasts. In February 2009, after the third summer
of the ‘XXXX Gold Beach Cricket Series’ Lion Nathan attributed the
5 percent per year increase in sales to the series (telecast on the
Channel Ten Network across Australia).
With a few notable exceptions, the Australian media whole-heartedly
welcomed the XXXX Beach Cricket Series. Even the sight of young
children playing in the licenced bar hastily built on a Sydney Beach,
and the nippers (junior surf life-savers) parading with XXXX hats over
their uniform caps, failed to raise a stir among the media and the
sporting public.
Teacher Note
This information is extracted from a paper written by Professor
Sandra Jones. Depending on the time allocated to this topic, and
the reading level of your students, you may wish to have students
read the full paper (and perhaps participate in a class discussion on
whether the ‘Boony’ and ‘Beach Cricket’ campaigns have a negative
or positive impact on society.
[Jones, S.C. (2010) When does alcohol sponsorship of sport become
sport sponsorship of alcohol? A case study of developments in sport
in Australia. International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship
11(3), 250-259.]
Assessment Task:
Should we ban alcohol sponsorship of sport?
health sponsorships. These foundations (such as Healthway in
Western Australia and VicHealth in Victoria) used the funds raised
by a legislated 5% increase in tobacco taxation to sponsor sports,
racing and arts organisations who had previously received tobacco
sponsorship.14
During the recent public and political debate over the proposed
‘alcopop tax’ (an additional tax the Australian Government is
proposing to be levied on ready-to-drink alcohol products), the
Greens (an Australian political party) proposed, unsuccessfully, that
this tax could be used to replace alcohol sponsorship of sport as was
the case with the buy-out of tobacco sponsorships.
Paul Dillon, from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre
has argued that sponsorship is designed to win brand loyalty among
young drinkers: “It’s a very subtle message, but it’s a message that
young people get, that sports and alcohol go together”.15
However, many of the recipients of alcohol sponsorship argue – as
do industry representatives – that the dependence on sponsorship
money should be the primary consideration.
What do you think?
Your task is to write an argument in favour of, or against, the banning
of alcohol sponsorship of Australian sport. In your response,
you should outline three reasons why you think banning alcohol
sponsorship is a good (or bad) idea. Write your response as a ‘Letter
to the Editor’ of your local newspaper. Try to write between 300 and
40o words.
Teacher note
One of the arguments often given for the increasing level of alcohol
An alternate activity would be to have the class break into small
groups and prepare for, and engage in, a debate on the topic.
particularly since the imposition of bans on tobacco sponsorship.
WEBQUEST: Alcohol sponsorship of sport
In Australia, tobacco advertising was progressively banned from the
1970s onwards; beginning with a phasing out of television and radio
advertising between 1973 and 1976, followed by the banning of print
advertising in 1993, outdoor advertising in 1996, and point-of-sale
advertising from 1999.13
Tobacco sponsorship of sport was subject to the same argument
as alcohol sponsorship, that sporting groups were economically
dependent on this sponsorship. However, in the 1990s several
Australian states introduced legislation, and established health
promotion foundations, to replace tobacco sponsorships with public
© NSW Department of Education and Communities
As discussed in this module, one of the arguments given for not
other sponsors.
This same argument was raised when governments introduced bans
on tobacco sponsorship of sports; bans which have now been in
force since the early 1990s.
Teacher’s Resource
4
Media and Marketing – The marketing of alcohol
Activity
1.
Choose an Australian sport which currently receives a high level
of alcohol sponsorship (e.g., cricket, Australian Rules football,
rugby union, rugby league). Prepare a report on the sponsorship
by alcohol companies (and non-alcohol companies) in this sport.
This should include:
•
Sponsors of each of the competing teams
•
Sponsors of the overall competition
•
Sponsors of broadcasts of the games
between alcohol and sport? For example:
REFERENCES
1.
Adolescent athletes-why are they using drugs in relation to their
sporting activity? Drug Education Journal of Australia, 5, 103-112.
2.
Black D, Lawson J & Fleishman S (1999) Excessive alcohol use
by non-elite sportsmen. Drug and Alcohol Review, 18(2), 201-205.
3.
Lawson J & Evans A (1992) Prodigious alcohol consumption by
Australian rugby league footballer., Drug and Alcohol Review,
11, 193-95.
4.
Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (2003) Alcohol advertising
on sports television 2001 to 2003, Washington: CAMY.
•
Does the sponsor have naming rights for the team or
the competition?
5.
Nelson TF & Weschler H (2003) School spirits: Alcohol and
collegiate sports fans, Addictive Behaviors, 28, 1-11.
•
Do the players have the brand logo or name on their uniforms?
6.
•
Is the brand advertised on the teams’ websites?
King E, Taylor J & Carroll T (2005) Australian Alcohol Beverage
Advertising in Mainstream Australian Media 2003 to 2005:
Expenditure, Exposure and Related Issues, Research and
Marketing Group, Department of Health and Ageing.
2.
Choose an Australian sport which currently doesn’t receive a
high level of alcohol sponsorship (e.g., tennis, netball, surf
lifesaving). Prepare a report on the sponsorship in this sport. This
should include:
7.
ACMA (2004) Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice.
Available at: http://www.acma.gov.au/webwr/aba/contentreg/
codes/television/documents/commercial_tv_industry_code_of_
practice_2004.pdf
•
Sponsors of each of the competing teams
8.
•
Sponsors of the overall competition
•
Sponsors of broadcasts of the games
McDaniel SR, Kinney L & Chalip L (2001) A cross-cultural
investigation of the ethical dimensions of alcohol and tobacco
sports sponsorships. Teaching Business Ethics, 5(3), 307-30.
9.
3.
What do you think this means for the sports that are currently
sponsored by alcohol companies?
Maher A, Wilson N, Signal L & Thomson G (2006) Patterns of
sports sponsorship by gambling, alcohol and food companies:
an Internet survey. BMC Public Health, 6 (http://www.
biomedcentral.com/a471-2458/6/95).
•
Do you think they need alcohol sponsorship?
•
What other sponsors might be suitable?
•
How could the government (or other organizations) help sports to
change their sponsorship arrangements?
Extension Activity
Prepare a letter to the senior management of the sporting competition
(or club) outlining the problems associated with accepting alcohol
sponsorship and suggesting other organizations they could approach
for sponsorship.
10. Cincotta K (2008) Sports marketing a whole new ball game. B&T
Weekly, 12 September, p.18.
11. Lee J (2008) Alcohol empire strikes back. The Sydney Morning
Herald, 15 March, p.29.
12. Jones SC, Phillipson L & Barrie L (2010) Most men drink
especially like when they play sports - alcohol advertising during
sporting broadcasts and the potential impact on child audiences.
13.
Behavior, 28, 274-289.
14. Holman CD, Donovan RJ, Corti B, Jalleh G, Frizzell SK & Carroll
AM (1997) Banning tobacco sponsorship: Replacing tobacco
with health messages and creating health-promoting
environments. Tobacco Control, 6, 115-121.
15. Jacobsen G (2003) Alcohol ads wet whistle of youth sport clubs.
Sydney Morning Herald, July 12, p.11.
© NSW Department of Education and Communities