Health advocate labels new campaign from DrinkWise as ‘outrageous and harmful’

How out of touch with reality can one person be..

People like Mike Daub are a big part of the drinking problem. I’ve worked with a lot of public health professionals, both here and overseas, and all too often the issue with many of them is that they have spent far, far too much time in the elite air of universities and/or the health service, and very, very little time in the real world. Kids drink – pretty much always have, always will. Telling them not to doesn’t work. Teaching them how to do it properly is a much better idea. Young people in lots of other countries around the world know how to do it properly, so why can’t we? I thought the campaign was great – funny, not too preachy, focuses on high probability of mega humiliation (usually resonates with “yoof”). Less pompous public health officials, and more campaigns of this nature would be a bloody good idea in my humble opinion.

I think this is incredibly insensitive timing for the ad to be released with the deaths from ‘alcohol-related’ crime etc. and the general focus on how negative alcohol consumption can be.

One part of me thinks but a lot of the population doesn’t drink to excess and deserves this funny ad for the right reasons, it’s tongue-in-cheek but still – just bad timing I think.

Mike Daube! We have the misfortune of having him in Western Australia, and he is best ignored. He is called the ‘nanny in chief’ and won’t be satisfied until every Australian stops drinking, smoking and eating what he deems is junk food. #ignore It’s a great ad that just might work to curb binge drinking and encourage responsible drinking.

It’s bloody brilliant. Has made me think twice about my ways.

Nice insight, idea and execution.

Stay classy – pretty straight forward message really…

Unless drinking’s made illegal, Mike Daube has not a leg to stand on. I think this is genius advertising; funny, memorable and incredibly well done ~ good on you DrinkWise.

Unsure how you can accuse such an engaging, smart and informative take on a ‘timeless’ issue as ‘bad timing’. Applause to all involved.
Mike Daub – one of your mandates is to get people to listen to you – I’ve just switched off.

Whether you agree with the purpose of the ad or not, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s pulled off air for a technicality. You’ll notice the following line: “…you’ll notice when drinking you’ll feel very, very, attractive…” as the male morphs from Joe average to handsome man surrounded by go-go dancing babes. Whoever wrote the script forgot to check the codes for advertising alcohol that say you can’t infer alcohol improves your sex appeal or attractiveness.
Anyway, I’m going to sit down with a glass of red now and I don’t care what the pug on my lap thinks of my drinking style.

Sensational campaign.
It’s like sex – There’s no point trying to pretend it doesnt exist; We know young adults are going to be doing it – tell them how to do it properly and safely.

Bravo!

What makes this work so good is that it’s beautifully crafted to speak relevantly to its target audience. Hence they’ll listen and with luck, it’ll change some attitudes.

Mike Daube has just convinced me that there is actually a time when the directions made so famous in Ireland might be correct: “Ah, you can’t get there from here!”

Unlikely to fall foul of alcohol advertising regs as it’s not selling any brand and is public health / education.

Great campaign. PR value alone probably already paid for this. I’m sick of the nanny state. Not sure what’s sadder – the fact that self appointed apologists and high and might preachers complain about this, or the fact that it’s even necessary to have to create a campaign targeted at pissed idiots. A night in the lock-up with a large sergeant and a few stout yellow pages used to have the same effect at a far lower $ cost

It’s a good approach – you’re going to drink, so do it right.
And it’s well executed.

Its a harm minimisation approach I personally think the ad is irresponsible. You can teach teenagers to drink responsibly without glorifying it. Crap execution for mine. Telling kids that if your drinking a few scotch and cokes you’ll look cool. Fail. And extremely dangerous.

The first step in persuasive communication is to establish common ground and this spot does it very well ensuring it has a chance of working. @ Larry, and Mike Daube need to get out more. With their eyes open.

Remember you are talking to kids at either end of the drinking spectrum. Some of them haven’t experimented with it yet and this approach demystifies everything about going out and drinking. And makes it look cool. Dangerous and pretty naive.

Not surprises to see marketing folks jump to defend the ad – it’s well made, it is ostensibly a decent message, and it gets your attention.

But can you all smell that? That very subtle yet very distinct stink? It’s the smell of industry involvement. The “independent” body known as Drinkwise is an example of how the alcohol industry have learnt well from their tobacco overlords.

Take a look at who sits on their board – it’s almost 50% alcohol, w/w! It almost qualifies for a flammable sticker!

I like harm minimisation, and kids are going to drink no matter what we do – but should our ads really include messages like ‘You’ll feel really really good looking’ or ‘We call this the realm of drinking excellence.’

Surely someone can come up with an engaging ad that looks and sounds ace without actively glorifying alcohol at certain points. It’s kind of a contradiction.

Harm minimisation is effective if it is targeted at individuals with substance abuse issues. Certainly not in this way to impressionable teenagers.

I love it. Though just outside the target age, it absolutely resonates with me and is refreshingly non-preachy, in a country where the Mike Daubes are constantly dictating what we should and shouldn’t do. Quite the contrary to LJW, though, I feel that the timing couldn’t be better: the entire population has just been informed by the media that we need to start shaming violent drunks and “the coward’s punch”. This ad is merely repeating that message, but generalising to other undesirable drinking behaviour. Spot on, DrinkWise.

I think this would be good coming from an actual alcohol company – Diageo did something not dissimilar a little while ago – and I agree it has some insight, and pitches well to the target tonally and in content. From Drinkwise though, I think it’s just on the wrong side of the fence and risks opening them up to attack (based on industry funding) that could undermine their credibility to drive other campaigns, e.g. around RSA. Seriously it’s a tough gig though…

For many years it has been impossible to market snuff in Australia, or it was, and as I have been out of the tobacco advertising loop for some 15 years I can only say that I think it still is.
The reason is that back in the late 60s the tobacco lobby was able to get it banned upon health reasons, something that today sounds rather like a bad joke.

Why am I writing this? Just to show that any group with strong interests can make a case with figures and so called facts and perhaps a little smoke and mirrors. The consumption of alcohol has been with us for many thousands of years, it is a part of our very existence on earth.

It probably kills no more people than animal fats do and like gambling ( which has also been a part of our lives since the day dot) it is a matter of education when young. There is no sens in trying to convert the adults of today to a life of less, or more responsible drinking, or likewise gambling.

The current generation may well be lost, but we can help children to understand a better way and a more healthy way to live. The problem with this kind of thing is that people become enthusiastic and charged with emotion just as sports fans do, and the for its and the against its become steadily more like two crowds of raging footy fans.

When I was a boy I remember drunken men falling out of pubs at 6 o’clock and vomiting in the street before staggering away to god knows where. I remember men punching each other and driving away in Vauxhalls and Austins etc. Grinding the gears and excessively revving the engine. only the timing, the clothes and vehicles have changed; oh and now the women do it too.

I’d love to survey a panel of teens and ask them how many of them were “more likely” to increase their alcohol consumption following this ad.

It’s incredible how out of touch this wowser is!