The head of the Australian Medical Association has labelled plans by Woolworths to stock new alcoholic product Duff Beer in its BWS and Dan Murphy's stores as ''dangerous'' and ''increasing the social acceptability of alcohol misuse''.
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AMA's outgoing chief Dr Steve Hambleton said ''people have been watching The Simpsons for years. This is ready-made product placement and dangerous exposure to people misusing alcohol''.
''We've talked in the past about the effects of exposing young children to alcohol advertising - here it is in spades,'' said Dr Hambleton referring to television's The Simpsons cartoon, in which Duff Beer appears, and which has been playing on channel Ten for more than 20 years.
A Woolworths Liquor Group spokeswoman responded that ''we have adhered to alcohol advertising codes and do not use The Simpsons characters in our stores''. She said: ''There will be no press, outdoor or website advertising of the product.''
The beer is being promoted in a pop-up bar in Sydney and has a Facebook page. The spokeswoman said ''all materials have adhered to alcohol advertising codes''.
The AMA has repeatedly called for a parliamentary inquiry into alcohol advertising. Dr Hambleton said research showed under-age drinking permanently impaired young people's ability to realise when they are intoxicated.
Brewing giant Lion Nathan tried in the mid '90s to produce a version of the beer, a move that was knocked down by Twentieth Century Fox, the owner of the trademark, in the Federal Court in 1996.
