The public health challenges of advertising in sport

Volume 10 Number 7 July 14 - August 10 2014

 

Alcohol, junk food and gambling industry sponsorship of sport could soon go the way of tobacco sponsorship if public health advocates get their way, reports Daryl Holland.

The Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992 bans tobacco companies from advertising their products in Australia. 

Are we heading towards similar bans on other ‘vices’?

“Australian sportspeople have become ambassadors for junk food, alcohol and gambling, as they used to be for tobacco,” says Rob Moodie, Professor of Public Health at the University of Melbourne. 

He explains that even before the tobacco ban came into place, cigarette advertising had largely disappeared thanks to a hugely successful initiative of the Victorian government. 

“In 1987 the Victorian Heath Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) was established using funds collected from a tax on tobacco products. VicHealth used this money to buy out tobacco sponsorship of sports and the arts, and tobacco advertisements were replaced with public health messages. So the Winfield Socceroos became the Quit Socceroos,” he says.

Professor Moodie, who is a former chief executive officer of VicHealth, can see “no reason” why a similar model couldn’t be used to replace promotion of alcohol, junk food and gambling.

It’s already happening to some extent with alcohol. The National Preventative Health Agency’s ‘Be the Influence – Tackle Binge Drinking’ campaign has signed up 16 major sporting associations, including the Football Federation of Australia and Netball Australia, to provide alcohol promotion-free sporting environments.

 

But this does not include the ‘big four’ sporting codes in Australia – the AFL, NRL, ARU and Cricket Australia. These all have long-standing sponsorship arrangements with beer companies.