Diageo hit by NHS chief claims over drink labels

by Gemma Charles, Marketing 18-Nov-08, 08:50

LONDON - Diageo has hit back angrily at damning accusations, made by a senior NHS executive appearing before a Commons committee, that it is flouting voluntary agreements on responsible drinking labelling.

When asked by MPs on the Public Accounts Committee to name companies that were failing to stick to the code, Dr Will Cavendish, NHS director of health and wellbeing, highlighted Diageo as one of the worst offenders. According to Cavendish, only 3% of all drinks brands comply fully with the code, which will be reviewed next March.

The committee, which is conducting an investigation into reducing alcohol harm, is now considering summoning Diageo chief executive Paul Walsh to appear before it.

Diageo, which owns brands including Smirnoff, Guinness and Gordon's, said that Cavendish's comments were 'wholly misleading, unfair and deeply troubling'; it has written a letter to the committee to state its case.

A spokeswoman added that Diageo was the first company to unit-label in 1999, began placing responsible drinking reminders on labels in 2005 and is calling for the voluntary code to be made mandatory to avoid what she referred to as 'patchy compliance and consumer confusion'.

'No other company has done as much to promote responsible drinking as we have. It is a travesty to find our name being abused in this way,' she said.

Other Diageo responsible-drinking initiatives include Drinkiq.com. The site shows how it has addressed drink-related issues, provides facts about alcohol and offers tips about making responsible drinking choices. It is also a supporter of The Drinkaware Trust, which last month launched a £1m awareness campaign suggesting that re-cycling a large number of bottles could signal that a person has a drink problem.

Comments

Scott Paton - 18/11/2008

Having worked with Diageo over the past 10 years on one of its global priority brands I have first hand experience of their total and unmitigated commitment to the need for their brands and marketeers to act responsibly and promote responsible drinking. Since the introduction of the Diageo Marketing Code \(DMC) they have been committed and at times ruthless about the enforcement of the code. Pricing, NPD, Communications and strategy have all been within its remit. I am surprised that Diageo are being vilified like this.

Dave Stoker - 18/11/2008

Agreed Scott. If the government pushes an acohol ad ban any time soon, it will almost certainly lack a substantial study to back it up. Diageo is not a cowboy advertiser.