Government is taking a symbolic kick at an easy target instead of tackling the real problem, writes Eilis O'Hanlon
People who drink rum are more likely to enjoy jazz. "Studies show", so it must be true. Similar studies show that wine drinkers are better educated than beer drinkers. As a wine drinker, naturally I choose to believe that one. Gay people also drink more gin. Don't scoff. This has all been scientifically tested. Presumably on gay guinea pigs in labs.
Coincidentally, or possibly not so coincidentally, one of the sponsors of the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival is Bombay Sapphire, which I am reliably informed by a (straight) gin-drinking acquaintance is the closest to gin heaven it's possible to get without dying first. Did the Bombay Sapphire folks hit on backing the theatre as the best way to reel in potential new gay customers? Kudos for smart thinking if they did.
That still wouldn't explain why Guinness sponsors the Cork Jazz Festival, though. Optimum marketing strategy surely suggests it should be Captain Morgan. . . These are just some of the contradictions that seemed to be bothering Leo Varadkar last week as details emerged of the proposed ban on alcohol sponsorship of major sporting events, first championed by former junior minister Roisin Shortall and now picked up by her successor in the Department of Health, Alex White.
If it's not acceptable for Guinness to pick up the tab for a GAA final, Varadkar wondered, why is it acceptable for them to pay for cultural events? Especially when the evidence from other countries, such as France, where sponsorship bans have been enacted on sport, suggests it has no curbing effect on alcohol consumption. Are we dealing with sensible evidence-based policy-making, or snobbery disguised as social concern?
Source: Eilis O'Hanlon, Irish Independent, 09/06/13
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