Actions speak louder than words

Remember the supermarkets said they were going to take firm action against binge drinking? Well the first salvoes in their war have been fired... and they have shot themselves firmly in the foot!

This week Tesco is selling 24 x 440ml cans of Strongbow for £10 – 42p a can – and 24 x 440ml cans of Foster's for £15.

Asda, which last week said it would not sell booze after midnight, advertised its offers in The Sun. It is offering two crates of 18 x 440ml cans of John Smith's, Carling, Stella Artois, Carlsberg or Foster's for just £16 – 44p a can.

Meanwhile, Morrison's advertised in The Telegraph offering customers two cases of Stella Artois or Becks for £15 – 32p a bottle.

What a concerted effort to stop binge drinking. Three cheers for our supermarkets! As one person said in writing to The Morning Advertiser "The reality is the supermarkets will do nothing until their hands are forced by government or a major campaign of bad publicity which hits their pockets. Unfortunately it is probable that the goverment do not have the intelligence to understand the negative impact on our industry of not distinguishing between the largely responsible on-trade and the irresponsible sectors of the off-trade."

Sage words. Words, I fear, which state the real truth rather than those uttered by the PR machines behind the supermarket groups.