The number of advertisements submitted to alcohol advertising vetting body CopyClear increased almost 40 per cent in the first five months of 2014.

Some 2,276 advertisements were sent to the organisation for clearance up until the end of May, compared to 1,641 in the same period last year.

Two-thirds of the ads were for beer brands, with the category receiving 1,526 submissions in the five-month period compared to 1,000 during January-May of last year.

Total submissions to CopyClear increased to 4,124 advertisements in 2013, rising 8 per cent on the previous year. Not all of the ads submitted for approval may have been published or broadcast by the advertiser.

Four in 10 of all ads submitted last year were digital, up from 22 per cent of all submissions in 2010.

“As in all other areas of marketing communciations, digital is an increasingly important medium,” said CopyClear, which is run by umbrella groups representing advertisers and the advertising industry.

Television accounted for just 11 per cent of all submissions last year, having dropped from 21 per cent in 2010, while the medium’s share of submissions dropped further to 5 per cent in the first five months of this year.

Beer has consistently proved to be the single largest category within alcohol advertising, comprising 63 per cent of all submissions last year. Spirits accounted for 22 per cent, having slipped from 26 per cent in 2010.

Wine now accounts for a greater share of alcohol advertising, rising from 3 per cent of submitted advertisements in 2010 to 7 per cent last year.

CopyClear is funded by members of the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI), but DIGI member companies have no role in its operation.

Some 69 per cent of the advertising work submitted to the organisation last year was created in Ireland, down from 77 per cent in 2010.