In the not too distant future, alcohol advertising in South Africa will be nothing but a distant memory. The government, having banned the advertising of cigarettes ages ago, have decided to go after my other favourite vice and will prohibit any form of advertising involving the booze.
I have a serious problem with this, and it has nothing to do with the fact that I will directly be affected professionally by this law. Okay, I admit, it does have quite a lot to do with the fact that I won’t be able to be involved in any beer commercials when I eventually get into the ad industry. No glamorous shoots with amazing food, no business class flights to far-flung places, no five-star accommodation. But my issues run deeper than my selfish interests.
John Nash, who you may remember as the crazy played by Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind, came up with a theory called Game Theory- the bane of economics students the world over- which, when applied to advertising, kind of goes like this: when, for example, all cigarette companies were advertising, they were on a level playing field. When the advertising of tobacco was disallowed, the tobacco companies skrikked, but actually found themselves in the same position as before. The playing field was still level, and people still smoked the brand of entjies that they always had, and there was no discernible drop in sales.
When Game Theory is applied to the South African alcohol industry, it means that SAB, the hugely dominant market leader, will forever be enshrined in this position. The only people who will be affected will be the micro breweries of this country that are trying their hardest to chip away at SAB’s monopoly by producing quality beer. How can Darling Breweries, Mitchells, Napier Beers, Jack Black and the rest hope to compete when the South African public won’t know that they exist?
Sports teams who are sponsored by different booze brands will also be adversely affected. Castle Lager is a huge sponsor of sports in this country. Who will step in to replace them when they can no longer provide the vital funding that these teams rely on to be competitive?
The banning of advertising will not stop people drinking. Even the banning of alcohol in 1920’s America didn’t halt the consuming of alcohol. People will drink if they want to drink. The decision to stop the advertising is short-sighted and will not have any good consequences.
When I was 18, I worked at the KKNK in Outdshoorn. One night, some friends and I met the reps from Peter Stuyvesant and got friendly with them. The next day they took us out for lunch at a fancy restaurant, followed by a trip to the Cango Caves. That night we were again treated to a fancy shmancy dinner, and then hit the town, which meant free entrance, free drinks and free cigarettes the whole night. This went on for 3 nights straight and needless to say, by the week’s end, we were all devotees of Peter Stuyvesant.
I know of many people who have experienced similar VIP treatment courtesy of the tobacco companies. Although I had a great time, I cannot condone the behaviour of these companies. This guerrilla marketing is so much worse than seeing a logo on a team’s jersey, and to employ these tactics with impressionable young minds is abhorrent and you cannot tell me that SAB, one of the most immoral companies around, will not employ similar tactics to ensure that the masses keep buying their beer. South Africa, get ready, this is about to get dirty. Real dirty.
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