Lobby group calls on Netflix to ban booze ads

Netflix ads are coming, there’s no way to stop it. But the streamer is under pressure to ban certain ads.

A lobby group has called on Netflix to ban booze ads. Picture: John MacDougall/AFP

Netflix is under pressure to ban booze ads when it launches advertising on its platform in two weeks’ time.

Lobby group the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) is calling on the streaming platform to get rid of alcohol ads, as it did gambling ads.

FARE chief executive Caterina Giorgi told news.com.au: “As the world’s biggest streaming platform, Netflix has the chance to set the standard for establishing an ad model that prioritises people’s health and wellbeing.

“Alcoholic products cause harm to so many families and communities around the world. Alcohol causes more than 200 diseases and injuries and claims more than three million lives across the world each year.”

Ms Giorgi pointed to a paper in Addiction which found that the earlier children are exposed to advertising, the more likely they are to start drinking at an earlier age. The paper drew the link from 12 studies which surveyed a collective 35,000 participants across North America, Europe and Asia.

A Netflix Australia spokesperson said alcohol ads will be allowed on the platform in a “restricted capacity” and will have to follow local laws and regulations that govern the category.

There will not be any ads on children’s content nor will there be ads shown on kids’ profiles.

However, Ms Giorgi said that current restriction around alcohol marketing on free-to-air TV and broadcast-video-on-demand platforms such as 7Plus have been “completely inadequate for decades”.

“[It] needs to be reviewed,” she said. “It’s something that health and community advocates have been calling out for years. Alcohol ads aren’t allowed on TV before 8.30pm, but they’re allowed during live sporting broadcasts, which kids watch with their families.

“We need to look at the whole picture and do what we can to particularly protect children.”

Ms Giorgi said Netflix and other streaming platforms should follow Disney’s approach, which has committed to banning booze ads on its service globally.

Heartbreak High has been a huge success for Netflix Australia. Picture: Netflix

Streaming platforms opened a new front in the ad wars when Disney and Netflix both announced they would introduce advertising-supported membership tiers on its platform. Locally, Binge* said last week it would do the same.

Netflix surprised the market when its co-founder and co-chief executive Reed Hastings in April capitulated after previously ruling out the prospect.

Hastings said he had changed its mind and wanted to offer a cheaper subscription to “ad-tolerant” members.

At the time, the streamer had reported its first decline in members in a decade, which led to a stock sell-off and the loss of tens of billions of dollars in its market value.

Netflix then aggressively pursued the launch of its ad model, which will be rolled out in Australia on November 4. The tier, called “basic with ads”, will cost $6.99 a month, which is $4 less than its current cheapest subscription.

It might prove enticing for customers hit by cost-of-living pressures during a global economic downturn, potentially reducing subscription churn. The tactic may also attract new customers who have previously considered the cost of Netflix too high.

The ads will average four to five minutes per hour, be 15 seconds or 30 seconds in length and will be both pre-roll and mid-roll.

On Netflix, the existing ad-free subscriptions will remain the same – basic at $10.99, standard at $16.99 and premium at $22.99.

In its most recent financial report, Netflix turned around its declining fortunes and added 2.4 million subscribers in the three months to September 30.

Disney has not revealed the details of the ad-supported model in Australia but it’s expected to arrive in 2023.

In the US, Disney+’s ad-supported membership will cost $US7.99 a month while its existing ad-free subscription will increase from $US7.99 a month to $US10.99 a month, effectively pushing its current subscribers into a higher-cost tier if they don’t want to endure ads.

Binge did not reveal details of pricing or logistics for its ad-subsidised subscriptions but based on its pitch to advertisers and media buyers, it’s expected there will be ads placed on an existing subscription tier.

*Binge is majority owned by News Corp, publisher of this website