Water or vodka: 'umbrella' brand advertisement banned


Why change the rules of the Belarusian advertising market?

In the early 2000s there was a short cult amateur movie called Sluchai z Patsanom () There is a brilliant phrase: “Have you tried Dva Busly (Two Storks)?” If it was the slogan of the film and the producers decided to come out of the underground and hang advertisements on billboards around Minsk, you could have problems. Advertising of alcohol and tobacco is now prohibited.

First of all, the ban will touch upon the manufacturers of umbrella brands, for example, the company Bulbash producing vodka and plain water. Alyaksandr Kulinkovich, CEO of advertising company Smart Group explained to Belsat how much the new rules will affect the situation on the advertising market, and why anti-alcohol and anti-smoking measures are used in advertising right now.

“We – advertisers and marketers – or, indeed, our regulatory authorities see the whole thing, because the consumer clearly understands that when a bottle of water is advertised and it looks as the bottle of vodka, it is easy to compare them and then buy a bottle of vodka,” says Alyaksandr Kulinkovich.

Talks of banning “umbrella” brands have been around for about 5 years. According to him, the changes in the law will affect about a dozen companies. The prohibition of direct advertising of alcohol has been there before, and part of the firms were trying to avoid it. The highlight of the situation in the market was the emergence of the holiday agency Nemiroff.

You can watch the full video of the interview above.

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