Alcohol problem
Should The Psychologist accept alcohol advertising?
08 March 2017
I was concerned to receive a £60 wine voucher from Naked Wines with my copy of The Psychologist.
Although I understand that advertising is an important source of income for the Society, there are important ethical implications in advertising alcohol. Of course alcohol is legal, and people are invited to drink 'responsibly', but alcohol has a huge impact in the UK: there are clear and adverse medical, financial, psychological and judicial outcomes. Scientific evidence now points strongly to there being no safe limit of alcohol.
What do other readers think? Should The Psychologist's policy preclude the advertising of alcohol, or should the British Psychological Society contribute to normalising the alcohol industry's message?
Dr Jean Debarros
Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist
Oxford
Editor's note: This issue is on the agenda for the next meeting of the Psychologist and Digest Editorial Advisory Committee. Tweet your views @psychmag, or email us on [email protected].
Update, July 2024: Prompted by renewed discussion of this very topic on social media, I've revisited the minutes of that 2017 meeting, which I've pasted below for full transparency. I am now in discussion over renewed, evidence-based input to inform a follow-up discussion at the Advisory Committee.
Noted 1: JS explained the background. There had been a complaint about the inclusion of a Naked Wines voucher as an insert in The Psychologist on the basis that alcohol was at the root of many problems encountered in applied settings. In response he had offered to conduct a Twitter poll (which turned out to be slightly against the banning of acohol advertising in the publication), and to bring the matter to the committee. JS referred to the policy, which says that the publishing of an advertisement does not imply endorsement by the Society, but the complainant had wondered whether we should be held to higher standards than this.
Noted 2: No conclusion was reached about any change to advertising policy, whether for alcohol or more generally for other problematic products and services. It was unclear in fact whether the question of inserts was within the remit of this committee. The Finance Director, representing BPS Communications Ltd, had co-approved the inclusion of this particular insert.
Noted 3: It was suggested in discussion that while alcohol advertising clearly does change behaviour, there is an important distinction between on the one hand an advertisement on the page that appears in a context implying some level of approval and being an integral part of the experience of reading, and on the other hand an insert that can be removed and is more disassociated from the magazine.
Noted 4: Two respondents since the original letter of complaint had supported the inclusion of alcohol advertising, making the point (echoed by the committee) that alcohol consumption can undeniably bring pleasure to many.
Noted 5: Advertising policy is shaped by a cultural milieu – for example whereas tobacco advertising was considered acceptable in recent history that is no longer the case, and a similar shift may well occur with alcohol, causing the committee to revisit the policy.
Agreed 1: That JS or the Chair of this Committee will write to the complainant giving the Twitter poll verdict and saying that after a range of views among committee members had been aired, on the whole it was felt that the insert was acceptable because it was of limited circulation (i.e. not going to the general public), it was an insert not a display advertisement, it was an offer to wine drinkers and not direct advertising of alcohol which sought to glamourise its consumption, and the readers of the publication have a choice.
Noted 4: There are possible ingredients here for a balanced and journalistic article on the topic, perhaps broadening it out to other controversial things, such as loans and private health insurance. [Editor's note: The discussion inspired this special collection.]
