Hi guys I've noticed there are a lot of Alcohol bargains being listed here regularly and wanted to get some feedback on how OzBargainers feel about the postings. As we all know alcohol is one of leading causes of death globally and kills on average 15 Australians everyday through alcohol related diseases. Considering the government is now in discussions about introducing cigarette type health warnings on alcohol packaging and things like flu shots are banned I was wondering if OzBargain should readdress it's policy on Alcohol promotion ?.
Ban Alcohol Posts From OzBargain ?
Tasmaniac on 21/04/2016 - 16:01
Comments
Let's ban people with maniac in the nickname. As we all know maniacs kill many people every year.
Let's ban people with maniac in the nickname.
That suggestion makes me nervous.
Long as you don't ban me too. :)
Leave them. I don't drink but I send scotch deals to my brother who collects it.
my brother who collects it
This is the most distressing comment I have read today ;-)
Perhaps a nice glass of scotch on the rocks would help calm you?
Variety is the spice of life, and with something as varied as scotch why would you limit yourself to one type when you could have a collection of many? - all purchased on sale of course…
I don't drink, but they don't really bother me.
Leave the grog ads, and leave them where they are. In many civilised societies you can buy your grog at the supermarket anyway, so their specials tend to incorporate grog ads as well.
Let's be honest folks, if people have a grog problem they usually know where the cheapest "bang for buck" booze is anyway.
What we at OzB are looking for here, is a diversity of forms of grog at the best prices.
I have a favourite place for my wines deals - http://getwinesdirect.com/ - but I like to see what is happening at other sources, and for spirits, beer and cider that I can't get there.
To start hiding or banning grog ads is totally against the spirit (if you like) of the OzBargain site.
Cheerz Wabster.
That would be Un Australian.
If it's legal you should be able to advertise it, post it on OzBargain, etc., etc.
However gambling deals (eg lotto) are legal but blocked.
Yeah because gambling is a waste of money and I came here to save as much money as possible.
I agree with Seraphin7, if it's legal you should be able to advertise it, or post a deal on Ozbargain. I cannot tolerate intolerance. I have not had a drink of alcohol since 1973, and just ignore those ads or deals. Other people are free to drink it. I do not hunt either, but would never stop duck hunters from enjoying their pastime. Freedom of thought and or taste should be absolute.
There's more to life than simply living.
Besides, I'm not about banning things. I'm about freedom baby.
Never had a drink in my life…
Says Mr Grog
Must be a Taswegian
Grog is also a brand of marker just to confuse things!
http://www.thebutchershop.com.au/shop_online/art_supplies/ma…
At some point people have to take responsibility for their own actions.
Just because something is advertised doesn't mean you have to buy it.I know society is headed in a "nothing is my fault, I should be protected and wrapped in cotton balls" direction, but it is just wrong.
OP needs to seriously harden the F up or hand in his or her ozbargain membership card and surrender their cache of eneloops on their way out the door.
I wish I could stop places like Qantas and Entertainment book from sending me wine deals, because I don't like wine. But banning deals altogether just because I don't like them? No.
I don't even like the taste of alcohol but with more overseas trips I'll bring back a few bottles simply because it is a bargain compared to the prices charged here. Then I throw parties and have people drink it :)
Totally agree. Qantas needs to separate Food and Wine from their interests checklist. I'm interested in food, but not wine.
The discussion is a valid one, even if it appears that the majority of posters appear not to be in favour of a ban on the listing of alcohol-related bargains.
It does tend to expose, if not double, then… interesting… standards, however.
As the OP points out, alcohol kills or directly leads to the death of thousands of Australians every year. (And the hosiptalisation of hundreds of thousands.)
Bargains related to sex toys are banned. (Yes, yes, go on, start the sniggering. And then grow up twenty years.) How many are killed or hospitalised by sex toys every year? (I don't have a clue, but I'm certain there is not an epidemic of thousands dying.) And what harm do sex toys actually cause? What danger to society? What rational reason would there be to ban publication of bargains for items whose sole purpose is to provide pleasure to people?
Well, the answer is simple, actually. There are enough 'morally righteous' people prepared to poke their noses into other people's pleasures, that they are offended by those types of items. And they make enough noise (both in reality, and potentially) that it is simpler for the OzB powers that be to just blanket ban such items. Rather than face extended controversy and flaming. A decision of expedience.
Likewise, a ban on gambling-related matters. Gambling no doubt ruins many lives. It is a real issue in our society. But, like those dangerous sex toys, I'm sure it does not directly kill thousands every year. And, like sex toys and alcohol, it is perfectly legal.
Thus… OzB has taken a stance on certain matters, based on either a 'moral' position (ie, that sex toys are bad, that gambling is bad), or on a basis of expedience, in limiting controversy and outrage from a small percentage of the community.
If we accept the moral argument, then it is untenable for OzB to continue to support alcohol-related bargain publishing. Demonstrably, alcohol is significantly more harmful to society as a whole than these other items; and if the 'harm' argument is followed, then it should be banned.
It is in following the 'controversy' argument that we enter murkier waters. If OzB bans items because some people may be offended by them, or that controversy is stirred up by their publication, then alcohol it seems will stay. Given the position of alcohol in Australian culture, and its overwhelming acceptance, there appears to be little real resistance.
Funny, a small vibrating piece of plastic causes angst, anger, threatens to undermine the morals of society, and somehow harm our precious children, yet real, bottled poisons which literally kill thousands are quite acceptable.
Just so long as we understand where we stand here… And OzB is clearly a corollary for society as a whole. So many are so upset and outraged by personal, inconsequential things, but happily accept and condone other things which cause massive societal harm. This is fine; humans are so variable, so inconsistent, and can happily engage in cognitive dissonance. But let's not pretend that actions like banning sex toy or gambling, or indeed, alcohol bargains are righteous and moral.
You need a tl:dr at the bottom.
No, you should just read the whole comment, you might learn something…
I said it needs a TLDR, not that I didn't read it.
Didn't think it worth.a + or - but that it should be noted that it's quite a substantial comment to read. I'm a firm believer in less is best.
Because all issues in life can be summarised in a single line.
Sigh.
Sorry, if there are too many words, and your eyes and your brain get tired, then there is a simple solution.
tl;dr. If you're the kind of person who wants a 'tl;dr', then I doubt you have much of value to contribute.
I'm not attacking the point you are making but just pointing out that you are making a very long point. If you compare it to the bulk of the comments made you might notice yours is substantially longer,
I believe that in forums like this the more you write the less likely you are to have what you have written read, therefore the inclusion of a TLDR is always polpular.
TLDR OK, short and sweet is bestPS quotes are so popular because they summarise issues in life in a single line
I appreciate that you didn't respond with the sarcasm with which I replied to you. I may well have deserved such.
Nevertheless, despite your politeness, I still must disagree.
A single, simple issue may perhaps be summarised in a brief, pithy statement, but doing so for more complex concepts can be dangerous and misleading. And the constant need, the constant desire, in our 144-character world to dumb down everything to fit in a tweet, actively discourages and denies in-depth and complex thought.
I tend to think that if something is worth discussing, it's worth spending more than a line on it.
tl;dr. Thanks for being polite, but I disagree with you.
TL;DR I agree
You're right, some categories of goods are banned and others are not. I would prefer that no categories are banned, but this is where we have ended up. I am interested in the process/reasoning behind certain items/categories being banned. Like with gambling websites, those intro deals appear to be a scam (or rather not a genuine bargain), but the community has not been able to vet whether William Hill/TAB etc are actually providing deals. Same with adult goods (although I imagine there is a small market for this so I doubt they'd ever hit the front page) and pharmaceuticals. I for one know that purchasing unbranded paracetamol for $1/100 tablets is a great deal compared to the standard price of $3-$5, but these deals are not allowed.
I just realised that it is only prescription drug deals that are not allowed, as it apparently illegal. My mistake.
would it be too hard to have everything in categories, and then just select which ones we would like to see on our feed/featured once we log in and have selected them in profile preferences ?
just like aus computer websites, ozbargain has poor category sorting functions :owhen you read the lame but funny jokes that appear on condom/tampon ads i can't imagine the madness that would appear on a kinky sex toy post
I was pretty certain that adult themed deals were banned because 'Scotty said so'. I can't recall when that statement was posted.
But essentially this is Scotty's website and he didn't want to tarnish his own brand image by allowing NSFW adult content (also including deals pointing to sites with nudity).
That's a very interesting post and discussion.
There seemed to be a debate on the definition of 18+ deals.
You need to be over 18 in order to purchase alcohol. This probably puts alcohol deals in a grey area as far as the rules go.
@pointscrazy: An adult store posted on the forums last year and scotty said that it won't be happening. There were a lot of reasons why with most being covered in that other topic. Others being the amount of puns other deals like condoms already generate and how much an adult only deal would bring.
I think a filter to cut out alcohol posts if there isn't one already will do the trick.
Who are you and what do you do?
Funny, a small vibrating piece of plastic causes angst, anger, threatens to undermine the morals of society, and somehow harm our precious children, yet real, bottled poisons which literally kill thousands are quite acceptable.
Come on, you know why ads selling sex toys are not shown in public.
There is a good reason x rated movie trailers don't show play during the evening news as well.
Yes, but maimed bodies, bomb blasts, torture descriptions, animal cruelty, etc, are all quite acceptable for our sensitive five year-olds. Right.
But heavens no, not a lump of vibrating plastic. Or barely even a discussion of non-harmful human pleasure.
Of course I know the reasons. Unless people question those irrational and non-evidence-based reasons, then things will never change.
Mate, basically our Lord and savior scotty lives a Christian life and this is his digital home. Start your own bargain website if you disagree with his business decisions. I agree with you, otherwise.
Yes, but maimed bodies, bomb blasts, torture descriptions, animal cruelty, etc, are all quite acceptable for our sensitive five year-olds. Right.
Nice strawman argument there. I never suggested they were. You knew what i meant and you choose to misrepresent my argument. I wouldn't let my kids watch that on the news either. Replace "news" with "Sesame Street" if you must.
An ad for a drink is very different to an ad for a sex toy. Is it really that hard for you to understand?
Q "Hey dad what's that drink?"
A "Just a drink for grown ups"Q "hey dad why is that lady wearing a fake **** and sticking it up some guys rear?"
A "….um…"People abusing drugs (and food given diet kills more people that just about anything else) is a completely different issue to exposing everyone to sexual content.
Most of us can drink responsibly, some of us can eat responsibly. I have no problem with ads for sex toys but they would need to be in an opt in section. Most people wouldn't want a double ended dildo coming up on their screen in front of their kids or while in the office. Surprised i need to spell this out.
Actually, I one hundred percent disagree with you. I would much rather explain to my (hypothetical) children a simple concept like devices for personal physical pleasure than the complexities and psychological trauma of war, torture, cruelty, etc.
Oh, and not a 'strawman', maybe more of a false corollary? I presented things which are acceptable to be shown on the news. To contrast with the harmless things which seem to upset you so much.
I was neither supporting nor opposing OzB business decisions. Rather, highlighting what I feel are somewhat strange moral ambiguities.
Naturally, the proprietor of a private bulletin board can have sole discretion over its contents. And our generous OzB boss really does mostly appear tolerant and open, and decidedly non-Taliban.
Actually, I one hundred percent disagree with you. I would much rather explain to my (hypothetical) children a simple concept like devices for personal physical pleasure than the complexities and psychological trauma of war, torture, cruelty, etc.
Again you deliberately misrepresent my argument. Kids seeing a pic of a vodka bottle or kids seeing a trailer for x rated porn was what i was comparing.
Oh, and not a 'strawman',
Yeah you attempted to refute my point by deliberately altering the argument. I never said anything about letting kids watch graphic violence, war cruelty ect. You knew i was talking about x rated porn showing during an otherwise unexpected time. That was a strawman.
BTW sexulisation of children is an important topic. They are exposed to enough already, maybe you should actually put some time into researching it before you make out like it isnt an issue.
Brilliant post
No. Not in favour of any of this sort of puritanical thinking.
Aww hell no
7 people die per month worldwide due to battery related accidents, does that mean we should ban Eneloop posts?
7 people? seriously
Probably not from typical AA batteries.
Reversed polarity is the likely culprit here…don't wanna cross those streams!
Pics or it didn't happen.
I was assaulted by someone, but the culprit was charged with battery.
True story bro.
I have to say that I drink more after seeing the alcohol posts.
I'm trying to quit drinking and it is hard to resists when there is a good deal on my favourite whiskey, beer and wine.
Try filtering the posts?
12:30 and just hit 30 degC on a Friday, it's beer-o-clock for me.
I'm Muslim I don't drink and have no issues with anyone that does. It doesn't bother me at all to see the alcohol deals as I just skip them
That's the right attitude. Your religious beliefs don't make any difference to the issue at hand. Religion should be a choice, just like you get to choose what you eat or drink.
Except when we brand children with religious badges
YOU MAY TAKE OUR LIVES… BUT YOULL NEVER TAKE OUR DAN MURPHY REWARDS DEALS!!!
15 less people stealing our bargains. I say keep them.
just ban ozbargain. That ll fix all problems.
I feel the same as you about all the deals for udemy courses and amazon ebooks. But I just dont read them. :)
I like junk food and alcohol
If you have issue with them, you can always contact them http://www.aa.org.au/contact-aa-phone-helplines.php
Please let others enjoy alcohol in moderation.Darwinism… and as The Beatles say…
Let it be.
We should ban sanctimonious, politically correct, teetotalers from posting to OzBargain! perhaps there's an AA style course on Udemy or something to modify the behaviour of people who can't stop going around preaching.
BTW, I didn't realize that adult products or services were banned! I reckon we should bring them back.
Interesting discussion on this issue. While I no doubt enjoy a drink as much as the next person, if people see a need to cut down on their alcohol intake they are entitled to it however blanking banning is the wrong way to go about- The majority here are responsible adults, capable of own independent choices.
In saying that, if OzBargain were to proceed on banning alcohol posts then where does it end?. Junk food, un-certified electrical items from overseas, etc. It would take away from the allure of hoping onto OzBargain every morning.
I am weary of this hypocritical nanny state I live in. Some may say it drives me to drink.
Don't ban. I don't need Ozbargain deciding for me what I do and don't drink.
But I can get behind them having a separate category.Surely you jest? This kind of post seems a lot like trolling.
You might as well ban water, loads of people drown every year.
Or take it to the final conclusion and ban OzBargain - after all it encourages people to spend money on things they didn't need, thus leading to financial trouble, hoarding, ruining relationships, breaking up families, etc.
This is a very un-Australian suggestion to make.
Go halal and never worry about the ban :D
Edit: Pun intended…
This post is 100% haram
allah ackbar
Derkur der?
Dirka Dirka Sherpa Sherpa Mohammed Jihad!
No more VB for you..
Don't hear any alcoholics complaining
tassie never gets any good deals anyways
I think the censuses is for grog to stay being advertised in OB. I personally don't drink and I reckon we're a nation of drunks, but at the end of the day
- Its legal
- It's taxed based on consumption, so in theory drunks who end up at the ER probably are paying for their hospital stay in some way.
lenient sentencing of drunks killing/hurting people however…………..
Was that meant to say "consensus"? Actually I have no idea if I've spelt the word correctly so apologies if I got it wrong as well. It's a word I'm used to hearing but not writing.
you're right. I spelt it wrong. I wonder why the plural of census isn't censii?
Can we ban these types of posts?
These kinds of posts are one of the leading causes of trolling on ozbargain.
not ban, but yeah we can lock this thread if trolling gets too much or is too much.
Reported.
Are you the mum who complained to Target to ban GTA V??
Alcohol doesn't seem to be particularly promoted or advertised here. Maybe we should ban gaming deals because they encourage a sedentary lifestyle. You have every right to be opposed to alcohol consumption but I doubt getting OzB to ban the ads would effect anyone's behaviour. Make an appointment to see your local member and tell them your concerns.
Two words. Natural selection.
WTF is this shit. I think we should ban the OP with extreme prejudice.
Do you also know Ageing is the number one cause of death in the world? The fatality rate is 100%, and we have historical and scientific records to prove it. Ban ageing now!
P.S. That was a joke. But on a more serious note, people need to make better judgement for themselves when they grow up. So rather than ban alcohol, people should be taught about responsible consumption and self control.
I was willing to sign a petition against ageing, until you said it was a joke.
more people die from obesity so let's ban any food related deals.
This question has already been asked, and I believe the resolution was to do some sort of filtering.. Sorry I can't be more helpful, I'm trying to finish my beer while pouring some whiskey for myself and wine for the missus.