Diageo Australia investigates rum ad aired during Dora the Explorer
Diageo has expressed its “concern” over the airing of an advertisement for its Bundaberg Rum brand in Australia during children’s television programme Dora the Explorer.
Diageo has launched an investigation into the airing of an advertisement for Bundaberg Rum during a YouTube showing of Dora the ExplorerThe advertisement appeared while Dora the Explorer was playing on YouTube.
Roger Magnusson, professor of public health and governance at the University of Sydney Law School and panel member of the Alcohol Advertising Review Board, hit out at Diageo Australia in a blog published on Sydney Health Law after he found his three-year-old daughter watching a Bundaberg advertisement during a break from the television programme.
Magnusson said his daughter was watching the programme during “mid-evening” and not after the 9pm watershed.
“This is the reality of alcohol advertising in Australia,” he said in the blog post. “Liquor ads, bought and paid for by Australian drinks manufacturers, streamed online with children’s content. It’s not unlawful. It’s business as usual.”
Diageo said it has started an investigation into the incident.
A spokesperson for the firm said: “We are concerned by this incident and, together with our local Australian media agency, our business in Australia is in the process of investigating how this specific issue has occurred. We take our role as a responsible marketer extremely seriously.
“We have robust internal procedures in place to ensure that we comply with both the letter and the spirit of our own strict internal policies and external codes and regulations including, in particular, that our products are only promoted to people of legal purchase age.”
The Alcohol Advertsing Review Board recently published its annual report, arguing that that self-regulation of alcohol drinks groups’ advertising in Australia is “ineffective” and many producers are “ignoring” concerns about their exposure to young people.
