Following the results of the September 3 European Parliament report on negative gender stereotyping in advertising, a number of European organisations and Bulgarian companies have called for strict and responsible advertising.

They also emphasised the need for self-regulation by advertisers, expressing particular concern over degrading images of women in print and the electronic media. Representing women as sex objects, or as anorexic, continues to influence vulnerable European consumers such as children and teenagers, and women with a negative self-image who are susceptible to eating disorders.

Europe's call for responsible advertising particularly targets Bulgaria's alcohol industry, in which leading alcohol producers have adopted the practice of branding spirits with pop-folk singers in print, TV and online. Commercial videos and posters for Mastika Peshtera, featuring Galena and her 2008 summer hit Crystal Passion, and Targovishte's White Bear Vodka video with Kamelia, starring as a voluptuous barmaid saying, "this is the knock I've been waiting for" (a phrase with a sexual double-meaning), have proved winning sales techniques. Since 2005, Peshtera's vodka Flirt collaborates with Playboy magazine to convene exclusive Flirt-Playboy parties in Bulgaria.

By the end of 2009, Bulgarian alcohol producers may have to undertake an ethical makeover at the insistence of Bulgarian Association of Producers, Importers and Traders of Spirit Drinks (APITS). APITS's open letter from September 11 states the need for a national ethical statute to be adopted by the Bulgarian Public Council for Self-Regulation in Advertising (PCSRA). It asks for responsible drinking messages to appear in 75 per cent of alcohol advertisements. Advertising campaigns should not contain sexist insults or denigrate either men or women. Advertisements are not to associate alcohol consumption with business, social or sexual success. In line with EU directives, by 2010 all member states must have incorporated EU standards in their self-regulating bodies, which should collaborate directly and indirectly with local legislature.

It is not completely clear what kind of gender stereotypes proliferate in Bulgarian advertising, since the country was not mentioned in the May 2008 report of the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) on the portrayal of gender and self-regulation across Europe. The reason for this is that Bulgaria is in the process of setting up and testing the structures of the PCSRA, effective as of May 2008. Such councils are yet to be developed in Luxembourg, Cyprus and Estonia. Denmark, Malta and Latvia have no self-regulation projects at all. Bulgaria's consumer protection and discrimination commissions are not yet able to contribute to the topic. Concrete statistics on sexism in advertising will be gathered, however. Exactly how alcohol advertisements must change is unclear because consumers have not yet complained.

"It is curious that, in contrast to many EU countries, commercial messages here are regulated by three separate laws as opposed to one which define the function of advertisement as different," Elly Gerganova, head of PCSRA told The Sofia Echo. "Here, laws operate for radio and television, consumer and competition protection. All three laws will be revised soon."

Gerganova went on to say: "When self-regulation is effective, legislature and self-regulating organisations often co-regulate advertising practices and separate their social and civic responsibilities. PCSR bolsters, but does not replace, the law. In England and the Netherlands, no producer may advertise a product unless the producer is a member of the national self-regulating body. So, industry and the government work together to maintain high ethical standards in advertising.

"Unfortunately, some of the most successful alcohol advertisers, such as Peshtera and Vinprom Targovishte, are not members of a self-regulating body and are not required to adhere to the ethical codes of practice. All I can say is that no other alcohol producer or advertiser in any European country would publish the Crystal Passion material, because such imagery is in conflict with EASA policies."

At the official presentation of the EASA Blue Book in Bulgaria, European Commissioner for Consumer Protection, Meglena Kouneva, said in the EASA report: "I am sure we can continue our joint effort to achieve self-regulation in advertising as a true example of a good business practice... In May 2008, if self-regulation does not take place, we will make it a legal responsibility."

Tsveti Koteva from APITS told The Sofia Echo: "The support Bulgaria has received from EU champions of self-regulation notwithstanding, neither the Bulgarian Parliament nor the government have reacted to our efforts. Experience shows that self-regulation is not effective without a clearly defined function and position in the law.

"It boils down to the civic community, where self-regulation and social responsibility begin with the individual. Woman is a general umbrella term for many kinds of individuals with diverse neuro-physiological conditions. In Bulgaria, some women attempt to raise awareness about their function in the advertising industry, while others allow for the objectification and commodification of the female body and sexuality."