There’s been another blow to advertising’s beleaguered self-regulatory system with the release of a report in the Sydney Morning Herald alleging that some spirits manufacturers are still advertising during daytime sports television despite agreeing not to.

The Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia announced in April 2009 that its members had agreed on a 12-month trial ban on TVCs before 9pm. 

The report has suggested that brands such as Bundaberg and Johnnie Walker (owned by spirits company Diageo) are routinely breaching the agreement.

“If they can’t even stick to that commitment, then there does need to be an independent body that oversees alcohol advertising,” the chairman of the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation, Scott Wilson, indicated.

The report suggested that until the first week of September at least 25 spots ran before the agreed time on SBS and Channels Seven, Nine and Ten, during AFL, NRL, international rugby matches and Ashes cricket Tests.

Stephen Riden, a spokesperson Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia, said the agreement was still in place regardless of the fact that the alcohol tax bill had since passed into law, while Diageo did not deny or explain the breaches had taken place.