Get a gutful, then a tankful

Richard Blackburn
The Age
January 27, 2012

Woolies criticised by leading motoring body for offering discounts to entice people to buy more alcohol.

Woolworths has drawn flack for linking drinking and driving by offering deep discount petrol vouchers to people who double their alcohol purchases.

The supermarket chain, which is a major player in both the bottle shop and service station markets, is offering a 30 cents a litre petrol discount coupon to buyers who buy two cases of beer or pre-mix cans of spirits. The discount is being offered on top of the usual 4c a litre discount for grocery purchases.

But the Australian Automobile Association (AAA), usually a champion of a better deal for motorists, has drawn the line at the heavy petrol discounts, labelling it “irresponsible”.

“This is a step too far,” AAA executive director Andrew McKellar said. “The message is get a gutful and then get a tankful and that’s really not on.

“It’s troubling that anyone would link drinking and driving, particularly so close to the holiday season when we see so much tragedy on our roads,” he said.

“This discount is well above what is offered on normal grocery items and I would urge Woolworths to start taking a shared responsibility on road safety,” he said.

Woolworths group manager, retail communications, Claire Kimball, dismissed the criticism.

“Woolworths rejects any suggestion that the current fuel discount offer is irresponsible. Our customers are always looking for ways to save and this is one way that we have offered on several previous occasions,” she said.

“I don’t think any fair-minded person would link unsafe driving with our 30 cents a litre discount on petrol following beer and pre-mixed drinks purchases at Woolworths Liquor.”

But Mr McKellar said the inclusion of pre-mixed drinks in the promotion was particularly disturbing as those products were typically targeted at a younger audience, including inexperienced drivers.
“Here we are trying to educate young drivers about being responsible and not drinking and driving, in particular P-platers who have a zero alcohol limit. It’s in very poor taste. It sends the wrong message,” he said.

He said there was also a broader issue concerning the depth of petrol discounts being offered.

Big petrol chains were using “loss-making” discounting practices that put pressure on the smaller independent service stations and threatened to drive them out of business, reducing competition in the longer term.