The Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland (ABFI) has welcomed a new initiative that will see many leading Irish drinks companies sign up to a deal with a number of social media platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and YouTube, to deliver new standards of responsibility for all marketing and advertising content on these platforms.
The initiative is led by the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD), a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to reducing harmful drinking and promoting understanding of responsible drinking.
According to IARD, the initiative will ensure the most-up-to-date safeguards are used so that marketing communications relating to beer, wine and spirits are directed to those adults who can lawfully buy these products. It will also explore what changes can be made to further diminish the chances of those underage seeing this advertising while exploring ways people can have greater control over whether they see alcohol advertising and opt out of receiving advertisements for alcohol products.
According to Patricia Callan, Director of Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland: “In Ireland, we adhere to some of the strictest advertising codes in the world for both content and volume of alcohol advertising and we are committed to maintaining those high standards. These codes have existed since 2003 and mean that no alcohol advertising can appeal directly to young people or feature anyone who is, or appears to be, under the age of 25.
“ABFI is totally opposed to underage drinking and we very much welcome this new initiative, which further diminishes the chances of those that are underage seeing alcohol advertising in a digital age.”
