Alcoholic Advertisements

The British Medical Association (BMA) is urging the Government to ban advertisements for alcohol comprehensively.

A similar ban was imposed on the promotion of tobacco products some years ago.

I seem to remember that the tobacco ban was a very gradual and slow process. It took years to come to ultimate fruition.

I expect that there would be a similar scenario with regard to the prohibition of adverts on alcohol. Expect sustained and determined resistance from not only the big brewers and distillers; but also the mass media and ITV in particular. ITV's advertising revenue would slump, should this ban occur.

I have no strong view on this. I see no reason to gainsay the BMA, though. The big brewers and distillers are capable of generating abundant profits for their shareholders simply by sales of their products. It is most likely that the mass media would be the greatest losers.