Home > “There is no product on the planet that is more unsuitable to act as a sponsor of these sports”

[Alcohol Action Ireland] , Smyth, Bobby P “There is no product on the planet that is more unsuitable to act as a sponsor of these sports”. (04 Sep 2012)

External website: http://alcoholireland.ie/2012/there-is-no-product-...

When it comes to the debate surrounding alcohol sponsorship and sports, the burden of proof should be on the drinks industry argues Dr Bobby Smyth, Child and Adolescent Pyschiatrist with the HSE, and a board member of Alcohol Action Ireland:

Drinks companies provide sports sponsorship in order to increase consumption of alcohol.

Sponsorship of sporting and cultural activities forms one element of a complex and sophisticated marketing strategy undertaken by drinks companies.

In view of the huge range of factors that influence alcohol consumption at the individual and population level it has proved challenging to conduct research on the specific impact of sponsorship on drinking behaviours.

Nevertheless the World Health Organisation produced a report entitled “Alcohol and the European Union” in 2012 and has concluded that marketing strategies, including sports sponsorship, have a real impact on adolescent drinking.

Young people who are more exposed to sports sponsorship by drinks companies and who owned alcohol branded products, such as football jerseys sponsored by alcohol companies, were more likely to commence drinking at an earlier age....


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