I was reading Velvet Glove’s retrospective yesterday when I came across a mention of some research.

Now Christopher just mentioned it in passing but I think it deserves some examination, as it is a magnificent piece of work and surely must be in contention for the Gold Standard by which all other research is judged.

Children’s exposure to alcohol marketing within supermarkets: An objective analysis using GPS technology and wearable cameras.

So they wired up some youngsters and sent them to wander around some supermarkets.  The kids passed some shelves with booze on them.  Conclusion: Alcohol sales must be banned in supermarkets.

Brilliant, isn’t it?

There are some points though that I think they may have missed.

First of all, supermarkets in general tend to contain shelves full of food and drink, even the ones that don’t sell alcohol.  Now we all know that food and any drink that isn’t pure water is causing an obesity epidemic [or is it an obesity crisis?] so the little snot gobblers must have passed those shelves too?  How come there is no mention of a ban on food in supermarkets?

There is mention in that lengthy tome about brand recognition, and marketing recall.  I am puzzled as to why they are concerned about this.  I recognise a lot of brands such as Boeing, Rolls Royce or Estee Lauder but it doesn’t make me want to buy any of them.  They are just brands that would only be meaningful if I were setting out to buy a jet, a car or some perfume.  And even then I wouldn’t just automatically ask for the brands I recognise, but would want some comparisons with other brands.

I presume by marketing recall, they mean how well a person remembers an advertisement?  What has that got to do with anything?  I remember quite a few advertisements, such as Eir and Virgin Media.  I remember those particular ones because they seem to be omnipresent, tedious and extremely irritating.  They would seriously dissuade me from ever buying the products they are pushing, so marketing recall can swing both ways.

However, little niggles aside, the research did achieve its purpose – to prove the preconceived notion that kids will see booze on shelves if they enter a supermarket.  Whoever would have guessed?

I presume in twenty years time they will study the same kids and prove that they all have severe alcohol problems?

Probably not.