By Bizna Brand Analyst

I’ve never been fan of Ezekiel Mutua or the Kenya Film and Classification Board (KFCB) as a whole. Several weeks ago, I even wrote an article calling for him to be fired.

But as the say, only a fool disagrees with everything someone says. In that case, it would be wrong for me to assume that KFCB is coming up with bullshit proposals all through.The truth is that some proposals are good and the one that seeks to have alcohol adverts regulated is one of them. To be honest, alcohol has ruined more people’s lives than it has benefited. Plus, the true alcohol lovers, those who drink responsibly, know where to find it. They have their favorite brands too.They don’t need to be convinced via TV ads, especially those ads that come early. These guys don’t even go home before 10pm to begin with. So who i watching the ads? Kids definitely.

The current regulatory system and codes of conduct have been criticized for failing to protect children and young people from exposure to alcohol marketing. There are major shortcomings in the current self-regulatory codes covering alcohol advertising. Specifically, the codes do not, as they are supposed to, protect young people from alcohol advertising; prevent the promotion of drunkenness and excess; or the linking of alcohol with social and sexual success. The codes are also extremely weak in their treatment of new media which are rapidly becoming the biggest channel for alcohol promotion.

Reducing the impact of advertising, particularly on young people and adolescents, is an important consideration in reducing harmful use of alcohol. Alcohol is marketed through increasingly sophisticated advertising and promotion techniques, including linking alcohol brands to sports and cultural activities, sponsorships and product placements, and new marketing techniques such as blogs, social media and other communication techniques.

Globally, the transmission of alcohol marketing messages across national borders and jurisdictions on channels such as television and the Internet, and sponsorship of sports and cultural events is emerging as a serious concern in some countries.

Alcohol is being portrayed as a really cool thing to kids.

Global advertising rules state that adverts must not imply drinking can contribute to a person’s popularity or sexual attractiveness, or that the success of a social situation depends on the consumption of alcohol.In Kenya, it’s the opposite. The society is saturated with positive images of alcohol consumption.

There is a lot of evidence to suggest that you can track the relation between alcohol advertising and underage consumption. One of the solutions to this would be that advertising should be more robustly regulated. There is no need to sell off the health and wellbeing of our future generations for the sake of profit,

There are loopholes that need to be addressed.

Current regulatory loopholes allow television advertising of alcohol during sports programs at times when children are likely to be watching. Primarily due to this loophole, it has been estimated that children aged under 18 years are exposed to a cumulative total of more than 5 million alcohol advertisements each year

It is very difficult to target young adult consumers without exposing cohorts of adolescents under the legal age to the same marketing. The exposure of children and young people to appealing marketing is of particular concern. Both the content of alcohol marketing and the amount of exposure of young people to that marketing are crucial issues. A precautionary approach to protecting young people against these marketing techniques should thus be considered.

Go KFCB.