Total ban of all alcohol advertising proposed.

This story is a few months old now, but when a version of the Control of Marketing of Alcoholic Beverages Bill was leaked to the public two months ago it became apparent the Minister of Health was serious when he said the gloves were coming off.

The draft bill seeks to:

• totally prohibit the advertising of alcoholic products;
• permit only notices, which must be limited to "describing the price, brand name, type, strength, origin and composition of the product", to be displayed inside licensed and registered premises. Notices must be accompanied by a health warning and must not be visible from the outside;
• prohibit the display of names and logos of alcoholic beverages on delivery vehicles;
• prohibit the linking of sports sponsorship to alcoholic brand names; and
• prohibit the promotion of alcoholic beverages through donations and discounts at events.
 

The ban would cost the SABC about R400-million;
DStv and e.tv would lose R500-million;
Radio, lifestyle magazines and newspapers would lose R900-million;
Loss in VAT of about R280-million;
The ban would lead to a short-term drop in branded liquor consumption of 5% to 8%.

 
Dr Motsoaledi's spokesman, Fidel Hadebe, said on Friday he would not comment on the contents of the draft bill and to what extent it constituted the minister's final opinion. Mr Hadebe has confirmed on several occasions since December last year that a draft bill was ready to be processed. The alcoholic beverage industry, media industry and sports bodies have expressed dismay at the effect a total ban on advertising would have. A recent study by marketing analyst Chris Moerdyk found the media industry stood to lose R2bn in revenue if alcohol advertising were to be banned - which amounted to about 2500 job losses. The SABC, in a report to Parliament's portfolio committee on communications, recently said it would lose R400m a year in revenue if there were a ban. Mr Moerdyk estimated the value of sports sponsorships by the liquor industry at about R600m.

South African Breweries (SAB) sponsored the national soccer team, Bafana Bafana; a regional soccer development league; the Proteas Test and one-day international cricket teams; the Tri-Nations rugby tournament; the Springboks; and the Dusi and Fish River canoe marathons, SAB spokesman Benedict Maaga said on Friday. Due to contractual obligations, SAB could not disclose the value of its sponsorships, he said. If the company was not allowed to display its brand at sports events, it "would not be in a position to continue sponsoring sports or other events in SA", he said. South African Rugby Union (Saru) spokesman Andy Colquhoun said sponsorships were worth R247m to the union last year. SAB sponsored the Castle Rugby Championship (Castle Tri-Nations) and the Springboks' incoming and outgoing tours. Klipdrift was also an official supplier of Saru, he said.

"Saru has had a long and happy relationship with SAB and the fit between rugby and beer is a long and traditional one," Mr Colquhoun said on Friday. "They are old and supportive friends and the potential ending of that relationship would not be a happy day. It would also close a lucrative door that has usually been open to rugby in times of need."

A sponsorship and marketing expert at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, senior lecturer Michael Goldman, said on Friday that given the significance of sports sponsorship as well as the effect on the media industry of a total ban on alcohol advertising, he expected that there would be a reconsideration of the bill in its present form. While the effect on sport and the media industry would be profound, the effect on the brands themselves "would not necessarily be negative", he said. "When markets go dark, weaker brands suffer more. Dark marketing also raises the barriers to entry for new products: for an incumbent, it is beautiful," Mr Goldman said (from BusinessDay)

In 2007, the national soccer team, Bafana Bafana, signed a five-year sponsorship deal with Absa and Castle Lager worth R500 million. SAB’s sponsorships (through Castle Lager) extends far beyond the national football team. It’s the official beer supplier to the PSL and Super 14, principal sponsor of the Proteas test cricket team, associate sponsor of the Springbok rugby team, and was headline sponsor of the 2009 SA Lions tour. (from Leader)

Bafana Bafana  R150million per annum until 2017 (down from R250 million)(from SABC News)

"Any restrictions on alcohol advertising and sponsorships would unfortunately prevent SAB from continuing with supporting the local music industry," Maaga said. (from BusinessLive)

So there you have the alcohol industry crying. The advertising industry is also crying and lying as only the advertising industry can. Once the money disappears there will be crying from rugby, soccer, cricket players and musicians.

In the other corner you have the Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi a man trying to win no friends.

"No matter how financially powerful groups and institutions are, no matter how much money they make, I can stake my life that we are going to fight with our bare knuckles to achieve this," Motsoaledi said. (from TimesLive)

Professor Charles Parry of the Medical Research council is in favour of the ban of course.