Day 050 - 10 Nov 94 - Page 24
1 question is so hypothetical that I cannot really -----
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: There is a question of outright legality
4 there, is there not?
5 A. Yes; legality so far as cigarettes are concerned, yes.
6 It is a matter of interpretation.
7
8 Q. Children under a certain age are not allowed to buy either
9 cigarettes or alcohol; and, unbeknown to some people, you
10 are not allowed to give alcoholic drinks to a child, even
11 in your own home, under a certain age?
12 A. Yes.
13
14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Most people do, but it is, in fact, against
15 the law.
16
17 MR. MORRIS: I did not know that.
18
19 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is quite a young age; I think it is five,
20 or something of that kind.
21
22 MS. STEEL: Presumably, the showing of advertisements of
23 cigarettes and alcohol during children's television is
24 outlawed, because it is thought that it might influence the
25 children to buy those products?
26 A. Yes.
27
28 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You are talking not so much of children
29 smoking or drinking, but just a cigarettes or an alcoholic
30 drink appearing in any ad on children's advertising; not
31 having adults smoking, or drinking beer, and so on?
32
33 MS. STEEL: Perhaps you want to say what the regulations are?
34 A. No cigarettes may be shown on television -- in
35 advertisements on television, anywhere.
36
37 Q. What about alcohol?
38 A. Alcoholic drinks can be shown outside certain hours.
39
40 Q. So not during children's television?
41 A. When, broadly speaking, you might expect that children
42 would not be watching.
43
44 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I understand the distinction.
45
46 MS. STEEL: Does that go later than just children's television;
47 is it after nine o'clock, or something like that?
48 A. I would have to check. It is easy to establish that.
49 For many product categories, there is what the ITC call a
50 "watershed". That applies to programmes and it applies to
51 advertisements. That is normally, though not always, taken
52 as eight o'clock. It is reckoned that most small-ish
53 children would be in bed by then -- pretty optimistic, but
54 that is what is considered. So the watershed is a point at
55 which more explicit programmes may be shown, and certain
56 categories of product may only be shown after the
57 watershed. It is an arbitrary line, but that is the way
58 that is interpreted.
59
60 MR. MORRIS: Just going back to the influence on adults'
