Public Call. Kieno Kammies calls on Brandhouse
The 2014 J&B Met has enjoyed plenty of positive publicity in the build up week, but the event was singled out on radio this morning with a talk show host calling on brand managers to participate in Lead SA’s Stop Rape campaign.
J&B are in their 37th year of sponsorship of the big Cape race.
“They are making lots of money and pour lots of alcohol at events like the J&B Met. We want the CEO’s of these companies to call in and tell us what they intend contributing to this campaign,” said Kieno Kammies on the Capetalk 567 Breakfast Show.
“Companies like J&B should be putting more money into CSI projects,” said Kammies. It is unclear whether the popular broadcaster is on the media guest list for the event on Saturday.
The radio station was promoting the national awareness campaign, sounding a beep every four minutes to mark every time a South African is raped.
Party Of The Year. The J&B Met has always been a popular social occasion
The beep campaign ran one year ago, following the shocking brutal rape and murder of Anene Booysen. Drug and alcohol abuse are known to contribute to social ills,especially in the poorer communities of our country.
The future of Alcohol advertising has been under the spotlight for some time.
Cabinet approved a draft Bill banning alcohol advertising which was gazetted for public comment, late last year.
Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini said:
“The intention of the Bill is to reduce the exposure to the advertising and promotion of alcohol.”
“The harmful use of alcohol has significant negative impacts on individuals, families, communities, the economy and the country as a whole.”
She said Cabinet were behind the Control of Marketing of Alcohol Beverages Bill.
It is the state’s responsibility to protect the health and well-being of South Africans and research indicated that alcohol advertising influenced behaviour negatively, she said.
Alcohol fostered positive beliefs about drinking and encouraged young people to drink alcohol sooner and in great quantities, said Dlamini.
Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini is driving the proposed change
“A study of 20 countries over 26 years found that alcohol advertising bans did not decrease the consumption of alcohol, she said, however, “alcohol advertising still glamorises and encourages the use of a product that causes serious harm to individuals and to society and, despite claims from the industry that children and youth are not targeted, international research indicates that advertising does influence child and youth behaviour.
“The tangible cost to the country of alcohol-related harm across government departments have been estimated at around R38-billion, while research indicates that the intangible costs could be as high as R240-billion.”
On the flipside, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) said restricting marketing on alcohol would have a negative affect on the industry and the economy.
Sacci chief executive Neren Rau said the motivation given for the ban was understood but said it would not address the ills attributed to the misuse of alcohol and that banning alcohol would not produce the required results.
“Alcohol abuse is a symptom of more serious socio-economic and unemployment challenges that face the country. Alleviation of alcohol abuse will be achieved if these challenges are addressed,” said Rau.
We were unable to obtain a response from Brandhouse.
Their website says that they have initiated several corporate social investment interventions that are developmental and transformational. The programmes cover enterprise development, skills development, responsible Drinking, creating access to clean drinking water and adult literacy projects.
