‘You have to have a brand that you trust,’ says Dr Norman Swan
During a session today at Mumbrella360 in Sydney, hosted by Darren Woolley, Dr Norman Swan stressed the importance of brands in Australia needing to have “trust”.
“The most important thing you have to have is a brand that you trust,” he said. “You have to have a message that’s transparent and trustworthy and if you’re not, or abusing that trust, or taking a risk, you will be found out. And that’s what the Fossil Fuel industry is figuring out.”
(L-R) Darren Wooley and Dr Norman Swan
Following on from a group of almost 200 health professionals and organisations calling for a tobacco-style ban on fossil fuel advertisements in Australia recently, Dr Swan commented: “The facts are there, and what we’ve seen is Australia slipping back in the last few months. “We’ve slipped back on the vulnerability of Fossil Fuels, due to the crisis in Ukraine.”
He said: “Whilst the media is important here, and the influence of the media is important here in terms of advertising, the key thing here is actually government regulation. Stopping advertising tobacco is really important, and a really important message there.
“Now, we haven’t succeeded even in fixing up alcohol advertising to the extent that we should, but what really made the difference with tobacco, was the fact that action was taken to court, it became passive smoking from the data released at the time, litigation. Airlines getting litigated by aircrew saying they don’t want to breathe in smoke.”
With that, Dr Swan said: “I suspect that the government will be moving more in the way of regulating these things. For example, we have a huge problem in this country with obesity which is also toxic, and the question is what do we do about that, what do we do there? is advertising the answer? Maybe. But, perhaps what is more important is a pricing structure.
“What I was getting to with alcohol, as well, is volumetric pricing. In other words, it’s cheaper in an aboriginal community to buy cask wine, than it is to buy bottled water. We have priced alcohol and tobacco out of the pockets of children and out of the pockets of adolescents, and that plus litigation has made a huge difference.
“And arguably, whilst it was important to stop advertising, it was actually more important to price unhealthy food more than healthy food, so healthy food is more attractive. Some manufacturers and grocers will be fine because they’ll shift the industry to healthier products. Government action cannot be denied.”
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