‘Time to target birthday cards for women with lame gags about gin’
Birthday cards for women featuring jokes about alcohol should be targeted in a fresh crackdown on drink, according to one of the architects of Minimum Unit Pricing.
Dr Peter Rice claims gags about having a tipple are stopping MUP from having an effect on female drinking habits.
Alcohol deaths are now at a 15-year high, due to extra mortality among women.
Rice, a psychiatrist, insists the policy works with men but now says the Scottish Government must start banning marketing aimed at the other half of the population.
Last Thursday MSPs backed by 88 votes to 28 Scottish Government plans to hike the minimum unit price (MUP) charged for drink from the current level of 50p a unit to 65p a unit.
But, asked if ministers should go further, Rice told the Glasgow University Spotlight podcast: “Yes, absolutely. There needs to be a range of approaches.
“Back at the start of the Scottish strategy …there were some marketing restrictions – we think there should be more.
“[Modelling] predicted that the impact [of MUP] would be less on women because they drink less cheap stuff.
“For women, alcohol marketing I think ought to be high on the priority [list].
“It is impossible to buy a birthday card for a woman without a lame joke about gin on it. So there are other things that need to be done. There’s perhaps going to be some consideration of marketing, we hope.
“Lots of the industry don’t like that and there’s been a big kickback against it. We’ll see how the politics of that works out.”
Rice was a founder member of the campaign group Scottish Health Action On Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) and an author of its 2007 report that first called for MUP.
The Scottish Government then spent a decade fighting in parliament and the courts to get the strategy onto the statute book. MUP – which made it illegal to sell a unit of alcohol for less than 50p – was introduced in 2018.
Modelling predicted it would prevent 2,000 deaths, slash hospital admissions and save Scotland £750 million in the first 20 years. But alcohol-specific deaths have risen and there’s been no statistically significant drop in hospital cases.
Research shows the policy has not affected the habits of the hardest drinkers either.
When MUP began, sceptical MSPs insisted the policy must be reviewed in 2024 and scrapped if ineffective.
But the SNP, Greens and Labour are backing the rise to 65p because consumption has continued to fall and Public Health Scotland modelling suggests deaths have risen faster in England, where there is no MUP.
Retailers have previously been criticised for marketing products directly at women, a tactic branded “pinking”.
Campaigners claim selling spirits in bottles resembling perfume dispensers or adorned with ribbons is a cynical attempt to increase consumption among the half of the population that traditionally drinks less. And they insist Christmas and Mothers’ Day are two events in the calendar that are especially exploited. Alcohol Focus Scotland – which is partly funded by the Scottish Government – recently launched a campaign, Don’t Pink My Drink, aimed at highlighting blatant examples of drink marketed at women.
Chief executive Alison Douglas said: “The industry uses emotive and psychologically-seductive techniques to convince different groups that alcohol consumption can play a role in realising their goals. Women are sold the notion that drinking is about empowerment, emancipation and equality, or that lowcalorie or carb drinks can play a role in weight loss or beauty.
“Another idea played on is of the hard-working, stressed mother, balancing career and childcare, who deserves a glass of wine at the end of a busy day.
“For all these reasons, alcohol may also be marketed as the ideal gift for mums, wives or sisters.
“The growth in women’s alcohol consumption over the last 40 years has come with an inevitable growth in alcohol health problems, including breast cancer and heart disease.
“Women may also suffer fertility issues, pregnancy loss or have babies affected by exposed to foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
“We must address how alcohol is marketed across the board. Restrictions might sensibly include curtailing or banning advertising in public places, alcohol sponsorship of sports and events, or how alcohol is displayed in stores.
“We eagerly await the revised Scottish Government proposals on restricting alcohol marketing and hope that weight will be given to public health considerations over business interests.”
Christopher Snowdon, of the Institute of Economic Affairs think tank, recently published a review of the evidence around alcohol advertising – and concluded there’s not enough proof to recommend a ban.
He said: “It’s important to acknowledge that alcohol-specific deaths have risen among both men and women in Scotland since MUP was introduced.
“It is only in the last two years that the female rate has risen while the male rate has stayed the same. Men still account for two-thirds of mortality.
“More broadly, a period of silence and reflection from Peter Rice would be welcome.
“He and his colleagues insisted that MUP was the single most effective antialcohol policy that could be introduced and yet it has been an utter flop.
“They now want to double down with an alcohol advertising ban despite the lack of evidence that it will do any good. “Since there is so little evidence to support extensive advertising restrictions, it is laughable to think that censoring birthday cards will have an impact.” The Scottish Government said: “We’re determined to reduce the harm caused to women by alcohol while minimising any impact on Scotland’s worldclass drinks industry or tourism sector.
“Following a consultation on restrictions on alcohol marketing, the Scottish Government is considering how best to reduce alcohol-related harm.”