Japan Press Weekly

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2015 September 16 - 29 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

To avoid causing unhealthy drinking habits, liquor TV ads will stop using ‘glug’ sounds

An organization of the liquor industry has announced that it will impose a ban on “glug” sounds on TV ads for alcoholic beverages. Citizens groups tackling alcohol health problems welcome this announcement.

The announcement was made to members of a governmental working group when they were discussing how to reduce alcohol-related health risks. The self-imposed ban on “glug” sounds is a part of measures proposed by the organization consisting of eight industrial groups of liquor manufacturers, distributors, and importers. The announced measures also include the raising of the minimum age of actors appearing in liquor advertisements from the current 20 to 25.

In Japan, commercials for alcoholic beverages are regulated not by law, but by voluntary guidelines set by the liquor industry itself. The industrial organization will revise the guidelines in line with its recent announcement.

Imanari Tomomi, chair of the working group and representative of the Japan Specified Non-profit Corporation to Prevent Alcohol and Drug Problems, expressed support for the announcement, saying that the planned revision of the ad guidelines will be an important step forward. She said that this is due in part to the basic law for prevention of alcohol health problems enacted two years ago.

Noting that it is still not enough, Imanari called for further restrictions on advertisements, such as no use of close-up shots of people drinking alcoholic beverages in TV commercials, which is common in European countries. She stated that she will keep an eye on what kind of commercials will come out under the new guidelines.

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> NPO criticizes Japan’s liquor regulations as laxSmall hydropower generation receives attention [November 22, 2014]