Portman Group slams “out of touch” charity
The Portman Group has hit back at the “out of touch” Alcohol Concern after recent claims that rules on the scheduling of alcohol advertising were being ignored.
The alcohol industry body was responding to Alcohol Concern research found that regulations governing the amount of alcohol advertising shown before 12A rated movies were being broken.
This followed the charity’s call last month, as part of the Alcohol Health Alliance, for a complete ban on price-promotion based advertising of alcohol more likely to be seen by children.
The Portman Group chief executive David Poley says it is “inevitable” that children will be exposed to some ads unless there is a complete ban.
He claims the current system of calculating the age profile of viewers is a “more reliable” way of deciding if a programme should carry advertising than a watershed.
“Alcohol Concern is out of touch in its belief that under-18s are tucked up in bed after nine,” he adds.
Regulations governing the marketing of alcohol came under scrutiny by the Health Committee earlier this month with MPs calling the current Advertising Standards Authority enforced rules “lax”.
