Alcohol Action Ireland says zero alcohol ads are being used to get around laws designed to protect children from harmful alcohol advertising..
The group say they have huge concerns around alcohol brands who have begun "brand sharing" - that is advertising zero alcohol beers using the same parent branding, logos and colours.
Research indicates that this shared design successfully increases young people's brand familiarity and affects their brand recognition and brand awareness.
Speaking to RedFM News CEO of Alcohol Action Ireland Dr Sheila Gilheany says the Public Health Alcohol Act should be broad enough to prevent this this type of advertising:
"You can certainly see them in areas that are restricted under the Public Health Alcohol Act, so for example, alcohol advertising shouldn't be seen on public transport. We can see that, what the industry have done is that, they have replaced the advertising of their traditional products with the advertising of zero alcohol products, using identical branding to the alcohol version of them".
