Brand Republic
 
Edition:
UK |
Asia
 
Digital jobs

Jobs

Find over 3000 jobs
 

Directory

 

The Wethey Forecast

Be angry. At the very least be concerned 

Comments:0   Add your comment
Hundreds of thousands of commuters will have read in this morning’s Metro that Sir Terry Leahy has been branded the godfather of binge-drinking. Who said this? A hitherto unknown Labour MP called John Grogan, the leader of a Select Committee studying the health consequences of drinking alcohol. He sits for Selby in Yorkshire, but probably not for long as his majority is only 467. Health Minister Ben Bradshaw (remember him from his days saving us from Foot and Mouth, BSE and Bird Flu at DEFRA?) backed Mr Grogan by revealing that he and other ministers are planning to change the law to ban price discounting on alcohol. Let’s suspend the anger for a second to ask why it’s Tesco’s fault that some people drink too much. Has the Select Committee done an econometric analysis to measure price elasticity of demand among head bangers? Have they established that inebriated people outside pubs and clubs buy the stuff at Tesco and then pay corkage to take it inside? Claire Beale’s editorial in yesterday’s Campaign says that the ad industry has to grab the initiative next year. She says that consumers won’t put up with having their intelligence insulted by lobbyists or ministers. She is completely right. But where’s the evidence that planners are using their understanding of the consumer to inform the fight back? Are our best PR and digital conversation experts engaged in the debate? Are the most talented creatives sharpening their pencils? Are the most articulate agency bosses honing their soundbite skills for the benefit of Action for Ads (A4A)? I see no evidence whatever. Be concerned. And if you have to get angry to get involved, for God’s sake get angry - and encourage your friends to get mad too.
Published Dec 07 2007, 08:49 AM by David Wethey

Comments

No Comments
 
To comment on this post you have to be logged in

 

About this blog

The Wethey Forecast

Musings from Agency Assessments' Chairman on agencies, clients and the business of advertising
 

About the author

David Wethey

Blogging for:

The Wethey Forecast

Member since: 03 Jun 2008

Last login: 28 Jan 2009

Total Posts: 69

 
 
 
 

Tags

 

Syndication