Alcohol advertising compliance at 96% in 2007

According to an independent monitoring exercise, overall advertising compliance by alcohol industry is at 95.6 % for the content of almost 5,700 ads monitored. This exercise, carried out annually by National Advertising Standards bodies (SRO) and reviewed by an independent panel of reviewers is made public by the European Forum for Responsible Drinking (EFRD).

According to an independent monitoring exercise, overall advertising compliance by alcohol industry is at 95.6 % for the content of almost 5,700 ads monitored. This exercise, carried out annually by National Advertising Standards bodies (SRO) and reviewed by an independent panel of reviewers is made public by the European Forum for Responsible Drinking (EFRD).

The benchmarks are the EFRD Common Standards which apply to all channels of commercial communications and are in line with the 2001 Recommendation on Alcohol and Young People provisions; as well as National and Sector frameworks.

The aim of the monitoring exercise is to review all ads published (TV and print) over one year in the selected countries, whether or not there have been complaints received about the ads (upheld or not by SROs).

With an overall compliance rate of 95.6 % in 2007, 96.0% in 2006 and 96.4% in 2005, the 2007 monitoring shows again that the industry abides by the self-regulatory rules. The report looked for the second time at the inclusion of Responsible Drinking Messages in print and TV ads to remind and inform consumers about risky use of alcoholic beverages and to promote responsible consumption. The compliance rate in this area is at 85%.

EFRD Chairman Alan Butler stated that "DG SANCO should consider the EFRD approach as a best practice example for the Alcohol & Health Forum" and added that "the high compliance level shows that marketers understand that responsible marketing is sustainable marketing".

The European Forum for Responsible Drinking (EFRD) is an alliance of leading European alcoholic beverages producers supporting targeted initiatives to promote responsible drinking. These initiatives focus on attitudinal and awareness programs, responsible marketing and self-regulation as well as the promotion of a better understanding of the evidence base. EFRD promotes the Partnership approach with interested stakeholders to tackle alcohol related harm.