Celebs take the rap for binge drinking

When a public company has to announce its financial results, the CEO has to decide the best angle to take in order to present the results in the best possible light. When the numbers don’t look so good, it is often a cute move to deflect attention elsewhere.

So cue Tim Martin, Chief Executive of pub-chain JD Wetherspoon, who has briefed investors and the media on the reasons behind a fall in profits…

I must admit, I like Tim Martin. He has a great entrepreneurial track record and I love his straight-talking, no-nonsense approach.

Tim was in typically controversial form on the radio this morning and in interviews reported in the online newspapers today.

The background is that JD Wetherspoon, which operates 688 pubs and clubs around the UK, has reported a 13% fall in half-year profits. The effect of the smoking ban was a key reason given for the fall.

However, it is Martin’s comments on binge drinking that have been picked up by the media. He has blamed binge-drinking by celebrities and famous sportsmen for the broader social problems of alcohol abuse in Britain.

“The England cricket team going on a three-day bender after they won the Ashes, gives us the wrong message,” he is reported as saying in the Telegraph

Martin is calling for a similar approach to the one adopted to drink driving some decades ago.

“Authorities and the media and right-thinking people set out to make it socially unacceptable. You wouldn’t have a picture of a celebrity getting out of a car pissed.”

In a later interview with The Times, Martin warms to his theme:

“This is demonstrated by examples of poor behaviour by a number of celebrities during the recent televised Brit Awards and by habitual drunken celebrations in the context of sporting events and other occasions, which receive huge press coverage.”

“This sort of behaviour is not a new phenomenon and is frequently replicated by the general public during birthday parties, stag and hen parties and so on.”

“What I am saying is more complex than a celebrity issue. It is a cultural issue and a symptom of that is the glorification [of drinking] by celebrities ... French and Italians drink more than we do and behave better ...

The wider debate about binge drinking and alcohol abuse extends beyond the narrower confines of Business Studies.

Nevertheless, this is a good example of how businesses of varying kinds need to assess their responsibilities to external stakeholders, including society in general.

Who is to blame for binge drinking? Is alcohol priced too cheaply? How should businesses like pubs and clubs manage excess drinking by their customers? Should businesses like magazines, TV stations and newspapers feel free to publicise binge drinking by celebs and make no attempt to pass judgement on their behaviour?