McGurk tackles Diageo
"Who would dare suggest that the hunky, leggy and beautiful heroes of this campaign might live on the same planet as legless, violent teenagers? Or the comatose lines of kids sleeping it off in their own vomit in our hospital corridors each weekend, or the pre-teens hitting the cider in their secret Saturday night drinking dens?"
Who's speaking? Some desiccated puritan? A killjoy temperance fanatic? Actually, it's none other than Ireland's famed rugby analyst, political commentator, TV presenter and print journalist Tom McGurk. Things must be serious indeed if McGurk, who makes his living by observing two of Ireland's most popular contact sports, rugby and politics, where the consumption of alcohol is a badge of honour and a professional requirement, is in a state of alarm about what drinking is doing to the country's children.
But there he was at the weekend in The Sunday Business Post penning a piece called "Stemming the tide of booze" and tearing strips off Diageo, the owners of Guinness Ireland, which is getting ready to launch a new advertising campaign across the nation's billboards, television and newspapers. It's alcohol-related advertising, in particular two ads currently being shown on Irish TV, that has enraged McGurk because he believes their packaging of sexuality and sport sends the message that alcohol is an essential part of living, loving and being young. Says McGurk:
"This is, of course, the most dangerous drug in the country at its most affective and seductive. Apparently only curmudgeons and spoilsports could see in these amusing and entrancing set-pieces the crisis that alcohol abuse has plunged Ireland — and particularly young Ireland — into."
Diageo, of course, won't like being associated with words such as "drug", "crisis" or "abuse". Go to the conglomerate's website and you'll encounter language that would make you think it is more a philanthropic body than a hugely profitable drugs enterprise. On the "Proud of what we do" page, for example, the most prominent message reads "We are proud of our brands, and proud of how we lead our industry in social responsibility". George Orwell, who despised obfuscation and manipulation, would have loved this mix of marketese and pseudo-idealism. And, anyway, what does "social responsibility" mean here, and how can we measure that Diageo is leading this particular industry in it?
Lucy Kellaway of the Financial Times writes a regular column that pours scorn on the dissimulation used by so many companies in what passes for corporate communication today. I'm sending her this Diageo gem in the hope that she can interpret it for us. But not only for us. For Tom McGurk, too, and especially for all those terrified parents in Ireland whose children are drowning in drink.
Diarist of the day: Arnold Bennett, 1 October 1909"We dined at the Boef a la Mode. A dull, good, nice restaurant. I gave the waiter my usual 10%, which happened to be 70 centimes. He was apparently not content, but politely thanked me. As he carried the plate out with the change on it, he held it the least bit in the world at arm's length, exposing it with scorn to the inspection of the chasseur as he passed him. It was a fine, subtle gesture, and pleased me as much as it annoyed me."
