I am writing in order to express my concern about the advertising and sale of a new energy drink called Cocaine, which has recently been introduced to the Maltese market. The promotion and sale of this drink is ethically irresponsible, and should cease immediately before its message reaches any more young people. The slogan attached to this campaign, ‘Be Smart, Do the Drink’ is a poor attempt at justifying its presence on the market. Rather than carrying an anti-drug message, the advertising campaign lends a positive meaning to the word ‘Cocaine’, and encourages young people to associate the term with positive connotations. This is notwithstanding the fact the energy drink has a phenomenally high and concentrated dose of caffeine and sugar; in fact twice as much as other energy drinks on the market which are also harmful and unhealthy in themselves.

The official website of the drink in itself holds a Parental Consent Advisory, requesting that visitors acquire parental consent prior to entering the website. The PCA states that “owing to the sensitive and controversial nature of the contents of this website, we strongly advise parental consent before entering.” If the controversial nature of this product is admitted by the manufacturers themselves, and online advertising of it deemed unsuitable for children, then why are we allowing this product to dominate the public space on billboards and posters for all children and young people to absorb?

I urge the relevant stakeholders to take action on this issue with immediate effect, in terms of our moral and legal obligations to act in the best interests of our children and young people. These interests should be of paramount significance in Maltese Society, and should certainly be given more importance than the monetary gain of energy drink manufacturers.

Carmen Zammit
Commissioner for Children

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