Watered Down Ideas Never Mind Guidelines

The new NSW Liquor Promotion Guidelines have been accused of being inadequate (reported SMH 19.07.13), especially with regard to not banning the use of celebrity endorsement. Instead the Guidelines have been diluted to a limp “care should be taken” when using celebrities in promoting alcohol.

Whatever you think about the new guidelines, the use of celebrities in advertising in lieu of a solid, honest idea, is possibly one of the laziest and oldest ad cop outs in the book. Sure on occasion it’s a necessary evil, but for some brands it’s the default. What’s wrong with coming up with a compelling, original idea that captures the potential drinkers’ imagination? Not only has the NSW Government missed a real opportunity to set up clear and unambiguous Guidelines, but in the alcohol category at least, they could have also stamped out the practice of agencies and brand managers paying to use someone’s mug shot instead of doing their job and coming up with a decent idea.