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The Number of Booze Ads Airing During Euro 2016 Is Astronomical

Sports’ relationship with booze is unshakeable, and alcohol brands spend billions a year advertising their stuff to fans in the hopes of scoring some space in the seemingly bottomless guts of fans.

Sports' relationship with booze is unshakeable, and alcohol brands spend billions a year advertising their stuff to fans in the hopes of scoring some space in the seemingly bottomless guts of fans.

Over at the UEFA European soccer championship, that's translated into an alcohol ad blitz like you couldn't believe. In fact, home viewers have been seeing an ad for beer on an average of every 72 seconds. According to Alcohol Concern, a UK charity devoted to alcohol issues, English and Welsh watching their sides play throughout the tournament have seen an ad for beer 392 times, an average of 78 times per game. The group notes that many of those watching the games were children, who—thanks to soccer and the drinking culture around it—are already pretty familiar with the landscape of mass-market beer brands. "We know from our previous research that children as young as ten are more familiar with major alcohol brands than some popular cakes and snacks, and that many children associate specific beer brands with leading football teams," said Andrew Misell, Alcohol Concern Cymru's director. The big winner is the Danish beer company Carlsberg, but if you've been watching the tournament, you probably haven't seen their logo. In France, the Loi Évin bans alcohol sponsorship of sporting events and prohibits advertising booze on television, but Carlsberg pulled a deft manoeuvre and replaced the brand name "Carlsberg" in their distinctive green and white logo with the word "Probably" from one of Carlsberg's famous slogans: Probably the best beer in the world. The logo is plastered on signs running the length of the field, so as the cameras followed the action, they inevitably picked up Carlsberg's ads. Post-game interviews with players also featured the Probably slogan.

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Carlsberg has responded to complaints from French media by saying that they are only advertising the company's alcohol-free beers, which are for sale only in special 'fan zones' at the tournament. Due to drunken rioting at the tournament, alcohol sales were banned at popular drinking spots near match sites. In England, drinking in stadiums is prohibited. "The volume of alcohol marketing around football is already enormous, and this research shows that alcohol companies are prepared to go to great lengths to get their brands in front of consumers, even when the law says otherwise," Misell said.

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Misell's got a point. And there was also a lot of unpaid—and unfavourable—booze advertising around the tournament already, with drunk fans brawling in the streets in cities throughout France.