As the government decided to expand 'alcohol advertising regulations', it has become difficult to see alcohol advertisements promoted by famous celebrities starting from the second half of this year.
According to the revised enforcement ordinance and enforcement rules of the National Health Promotion Act recently announced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, outdoor large-scale multimedia advertisements containing pictures of alcohol bottles or alcohol brand names will be banned from the second half of the year.
At the same time, alcohol advertising is completely banned on the signs of all general restaurants and entertainment bars across the country.
Previously, it was limited to urban railway stations, vehicles, and screen doors, but this has been expanded this time.
Broadcast advertising policies are also changing. The ban on alcohol advertising from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. will be expanded from television to include data broadcasting and Internet multimedia.
Liquor companies are also prohibited from putting their brands on the front page when sponsoring an event. You can use the word 'OB Beer' sponsorship, but you cannot use the names of alcoholic drinks such as 'OB Lager', 'Cass', or 'Capri'.
What is the background to the amendment?
This amendment was designed to change the culture of being tolerant of drinking and especially to protect children and adolescents from frequently exposed alcohol advertisements.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said, “Alcohol advertising and marketing has the effect of accelerating the start of drinking among adolescents and increasing alcohol consumption,” and added, “With the continued development of media technology, the advertising market utilizing new media has expanded, creating a blind spot in alcohol advertising regulations.” “It is spreading,” he explained the background to the bill.
According to the results of the '2020 Youth Health Behavior Survey' recently announced by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the proportion of adolescents who drank more than one drink in the past 30 days (current drinking rate) was 12.1% for male students and 9.1% for female students.
The rate of youth visiting hospitals due to alcoholism is also increasing significantly. According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the rate of adolescents visiting hospitals due to alcoholism increased by 32.6% from 2014 to 2018.
Reactions are divided for and against
Online, there are divided opinions for and against the amendment.
In news related to the portal site Naver, “Even if the use of alcohol bottles, glasses, etc. is okay, isn’t it too much to block brand exposure? (dhye****)”, “People drink even if it’s a photo of someone other than a celebrity. Hate photos of cigarettes.” Skeptical responses were posted, saying, “It’s the same as not smoking because you put it on (good****).”
On the other hand, there was also a response that welcomed this measure, saying that it is true that Korea's alcohol advertising was excessive.
"It is no exaggeration to say that all cases, including drunk driving, murder, violence, robbery, and sexual assault, are related to alcohol. However, Korea is probably the only country that promotes alcohol through advertisements featuring top female celebrities and is strangely tolerant of alcohol. (shek** **)", "I don't understand why they put hateful pictures on cigarettes but put popular girl idols on alcohol (roro****)."
Experts acknowledged the need for the government's plan, but expressed disappointment with its approach to regulating regulations.
Jeong Yeon-woo, a professor of advertising and public relations at Semyung University, said, "In the case of outdoor advertising (billboard advertising), a decision must be made by collecting various public opinions, such as whether a complete ban is right or whether it is right to strictly limit expression." “It is right to consider it more first,” he told Yonhap News.
Alcohol advertisement...what do you think?
The liquor industry has mostly used young, beautiful female celebrities as models and used the message of being “clean and gentle.”
This trend began in earnest in the late 1990s, and in the case of Hite Jinro's 'Chamisul', the first model, Lee Young-ae, was led by Kim Tae-hee, IU, and Irene.
In the case of Lotte Liquor's 'Like Chum', following Lee Hyori, Uee, Suzy, etc., Blackpink's Jennie is currently being used as the representative advertising model.
However, in the past, soju advertisements rarely featured young female celebrities.
Originally, when soju was first commercially released in 1924, it was a very strong liquor at 35 percent. After liberation, it was around 30 degrees in 1965, and up until the 1980s, it was around 25 degrees.
At this time, the models were mostly middle-aged men, and the advertising message was that soju was the drink to drink after hard work. Representative phrases such as ‘There is always a career path after sweating hard work’ are representative examples.
Then, in 1998, Jinro launched ‘Chamisul’, a 23 percent soju. Then, in 2006, Doosan (later acquired by Lotte) launched the 21-percent Chumlike, thus beginning the 'mild soju' competition.
Afterwards, the alcohol content of soju gradually decreased to the mid-10s. The bottle also changed to green, emphasizing the eco-friendly and naturalistic image.
In the advertising media world, it is believed that the lowering of the alcohol content of soju was the reason for the appearance of female models.
In relation to this, Hwang Jang-seon, a professor of advertising and public relations at Chung-Ang University, said in an earlier interview with the BBC, "The alcohol content of soju has been lowering since 10 years ago, and around that time (the time of Chumlike's launch), the 'clear water' debate between Cheomlike and Chamisul heated up," and "soft and “A ‘mild and clean’ image was needed,” he explained. “Also, as the alcohol content of soju became weaker, the actual target market could be seen to have shifted from focusing on men to including women.”
Sungkyunkwan University's paper on 'Consumer Attitudes According to Soju Advertising Poster Images' analyzed that as the image of 'Soju = mild alcohol' became associated with marketing, (Soju) was positioned as a soft and easy-to-drink alcohol, and female models who fit that concept were used. there is.
What is the regulatory flow?
Along with this trend, government regulations on alcohol advertising have also begun.
The full-fledged discussion began in 2012, when former figure skater Yuna Kim became a model for the beer 'Hite' when she was 21 years old.
The background was that if a celebrity with a friendly image who has been active since his teens became a mainstream model, it could promote youth drinking culture.
This sparked controversy for the same reason in 2015 when singer IU was selected as a model for Chamisul at the age of 21.
At the time, the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee passed the so-called 'IU Bill', which prohibited celebrities, athletes, and other celebrities under the age of 24 (the age of youth under the Basic Act on Youth) from advertising alcohol, but it did not pass the plenary session at the time.
The reason was that there was no foreign precedent and that it undermined the freedom to choose a career.
Then, in 2019, a bill was passed prohibiting the attachment of pictures of celebrities to the packaging of alcoholic beverages, such as soju bottles or beer bottles.
This bill was pending and then scrapped in the 20th National Assembly, but the government plans to pursue it again this year along with 'restrictions on outdoor advertising.'