Have We Bottled It? - Alcohol Action Ireland

Alcohol is one of the most heavily marketed products on our shelves with a total market value of €6 billion in Ireland this year. Alcohol marketing targets young people and influences their drinking.

Alcohol Action Ireland spoke with key national and international experts in the area of alcohol marketing. They explore what alcohol marketing actually is, how it works and tell us what can be done to reduce its impact, particularly on young people. (See speaker interviews below)

They spoke at Alcohol Action Ireland’s recent ‘Have We Bottled It? Alcohol Marketing and Young People’ conference, which was officially opened by the Government’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan.

Alcohol Action Ireland also launched the findings of it’s Have We Bottled It? survey, which found that two out of three Irish adults are in favour of introducing a minimum price on alcohol, a floor price below which alcohol cannot be sold, with almost half saying they would buy less alcohol if the price were to increase by just 10%.

Research has established that increasing the price of alcohol will reduce the amount we drink, which in turn will lead to a decrease in alcohol-related harms, which already costs this country around €3.7billion a year including health, absenteeism and crime-related costs.

Alcohol Action Ireland Director Fiona Ryan also revealed that young people are being exposed to alcohol brands from a young age. Among 16 to 21-year-olds, alcohol ads represented five out of their top ten favourite ads, while one in three 16 to 17-year-olds said they had seen an ad or pop-up for an alcohol product on their social networking page.

Findings

Key findings from the survey include:

85% of those surveyed say that the current level of alcohol consumption in Ireland is a problem, while 69% say the Government is not doing enough to address the country’s alcohol problem
Two out of three (65%) believe there should be a minimum price on alcohol, below which alcohol cannot be sold
Almost half of people (47%) say they would buy less alcohol if the price was to increase by just 10%
One in four say the drop in the price of alcohol in supermarkets has influenced them to buy more alcohol
67% say alcohol should not be positioned beside or behind the till in convenience stores
81% of those surveyed supported a ban on all alcohol advertising on TV and radio until after 9pm
Half of Irish adults supported a ban on alcohol companies sponsoring sports teams or event

Read the results of the full Alcohol Action Ireland Behaviour & Attitudes Have We Bottled It? survey here.

Interviews & Presentations

Click on the links below to hear each of the speakers and to see their presentations from the Have We Bottled It? Alcohol Marketing and Young People conference.

Professor Gerard Hastings, Director of the Institute for Social Marketing at Sterling University in Scotland, explains what alcohol marketing actually is and outlines how it works.To view Professor Gerard Hastings’ Have We Bottled It? Alcohol Marketing and Young People conference presentation, click here.	Pat Kenny, Lecturer at Dublin Institute of Technology, talks about alcohol marketing in the digital age and warns about online alcohol adverts targeting young people.To view Pat Kenny’s Have We Bottled It? Alcohol Marketing and Young People conference presentation, click here
Dr Bobby Smyth, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, on the realities of drinking in adolescence. To view Dr Bobby Smyth’s Have We Bottled It? Alcohol Marketing and Young People conference presentation, click here	James Doorley, Assistant Director of the National Youth Council of Ireland, talks about the Get ’Em Young research mapping young people’s exposure to alcohol marketing in Ireland. To view James Doorley’s Have We Bottled It? Alcohol Marketing and Young People conference presentation, click here
Dr Evelyn Gillan, Chief Executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, on the campaign for minimum pricing on alcohol in Scotland.To view Dr Evelyn Gillan’s Have We Bottled It? Alcohol Marketing and Young People conference presentation, click here	Hugh Greaves, Co-ordinator of the Ballymum Local Drugs Taskforce , on the local Ballymum Community Alcohol Strategy.To view Hugh Greaves’ Have We Bottled It? Alcohol Marketing and Young People conference presentation, click here
Professor Joe Barry, Head of the Department of Public Health and Primary Care , Trinity College for Health Sciences, provides an overview of alcohol marketing regulation and looks at ways forward.	Alcohol Action Ireland Director Fiona Ryan is pictured launching the findings of the charity’s Have We Bottled It? survey, which found that two out of three Irish adults are in favour of introducing a minimum price on alcohol.