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The Independent today chose to splash with what at first glance seems to be a tired old story about Tesco "facing two official investigations over claims that it deliberately advertised cut-price alcohol as 'bait' to lure bargain-hunters". Yes, and I suspect Peter Stringfellow deliberately used naked women as 'bait' to lure folk willing to spend absurd amounts of money on a glass of flat Moet.
The twist on the story, which begs the question as to why this made it to their front page, is not that this in any way promotes irresponsible drinking (selling alcohol at a loss in huge volumes for people to go and drink unsupervised), rather that they might not have had enough stock to justify the promotion.
This has long been held up as a huge issue for the pub community – we are accused of promoting irresponsible drinking all the time; supermarkets are not. Which idea seems more sensible? Encouraging people to buy a case of beer below cost to drink at home (I'm not suggesting that everyone canes a whole case of beer in one go, but, being realistic about this, often that's the aim of buying a cheap case) or buying the same product at a slight profit in a pub environment where there are trained staff who will refuse to serve you if you drink too much? There's no doubt in my mind that the latter is a far more responsible pattern of drinking, yet pubs, rather than supermarkets, bear the brunt of the media's anger (is this due to their respective advertising budgets, I wonder).
Witness the furore around JD Wetherspoon recently offering pints of beer for 99p. I don't think there can be any argument about the potential dangers of alcohol – last year the health minister Dawn Primarolo said that around a quarter of the population drink to a harmful level and that alcohol-related illness costs the NHS £2.7bn a year. But is this really irresponsible when compared to the big supermarkets?
A lot of noise has been made about what Wetherspoon have been discounting – in this case bottles of San Miguel and pints of John Smith (neither brewers are backing the move), and this, say some, is evidence of a fairly responsible attitude. Many older punters yesterday welcomed the move saying they wouldn't drink more but would now be able to enjoy a cheaper pint of beer in the company of other people. Surely this is a more responsible type of discount than, say, reducing the price of spirits? Does it makes any difference what they are discounting?
My take on the story is that pubs are learning a lesson from the supermarkets here: that where some products are discounted down to almost cost price money is made from associated sales. Plenty of people will be buying food in Wetherspoons or have friends with them who drink something different.
The Guardian recently ran a story on the Four Crosses Inn near Cannock, Staffordshire, which is selling meals for a pound and has seen business increase tenfold – it is obviously trying to make up for what seems like an insane discount from people buying drinks. Is that the future for pubs and bars? Are pubs as entitled as any other business to attempt this kind of 'sale' on their products?
My own feelings are that the country would benefit from a clear law on acceptable selling prices for alcohol, but until this comes in many pubs will continue to make these kinds of move to protect their very fragile businesses.
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