The little green frog on the bottle of Woody's alcoholic fruit drinks is to disappear in response to criticism that the beverage is aimed at under-age drinkers. Woody's is the market leader in the "alcopops" sector, the sweet, brightly-coloured drinks that have appeared in the past few years. The marketing director of United Beverages, Mr Philip Smith, yesterday announced revisions of the marketing and packaging of the drink. These follow criticism from the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Mr Tom Kitt, who said earlier this month that the drinks were "insidious concoctions, cynically aimed at the impressionability of youth".
RTE recently banned advertisements for the drinks, and the main supermarket chains, Superquinn, Quinnsworth and Dunnes Stores are not stocking them.
However, Mr Smith said public houses, which account for 92 per cent of sales, were continuing to stock Woody's and so were off-licences.
The alcoholic fruit drinks sector has had a tough time from the press, Mr Smith said. The company fully endorsed what the Minister said about the need for a code of practice. It had introduced a code last March and altered the label, with the frog changed from a cartoon to a photograph.
Mr Smith admitted it would have been better to get rid of the frog then. The company had also placed a warning that the drinks contained alcohol prominently on the bottle, along with a warning about under-age drinking.
The company's code of practice, he said, provided for tougher marketing, promotion and sale controls as part of a package to curtail the supply of alcohol to under-age drinkers.
Woody's was not aimed at under-age drinkers. It was aimed at 18- to 34-year-olds who wanted the effect of alcohol without the taste. It appealed to a new market where drinkers changed their drink and sampled different drinks on different nights.
Woody's was starting a new advertising campaign in November. Now that RTE had decided not to take advertising for the product, the campaign would run in alternative media, including outdoor poster sites, cinema and radio, as well as on UTV and Channel 4.
Meanwhile, Ms Caroline Gill of the Consumer Association, who attended yesterday's press conference, said the changes were "disingenuous and dishonest". The name Woody's had connotations of childhood, with Woody Woodpecker and the name "alcopops" with coco pops, ice pops and lollipops. The drinks looked like soft drinks and were high in sugar, she said.
Mr Smith said the "alcopop" label was an invention of the tabloid press and was not used by the company. The drink was sold in a long-neck, clear glass bottle like premium lagers, ales and ciders, he said.
The revised labels would take six to eight weeks to reach the retail outlets.