Ease up on the drink! New NZ ad campaign targets drinking buddies

By Candy Lashkari

“Hitting the bottle is not the cure to the ills of the world” was the last message from the advertisements of New Zealand’s Alcohol Advisory Council (ALAC). That campaign focused on graphic examples of excessive drinking leading to harm, with three realistic characters who made poor and dangerous choices.

ALAC Chief executive Officer Gerard Vaughan said that these ads were very effective and resulted in an 11% increase in calls to the Alcohol Drug Helpline last year. However the campaign also generated a debate, here’s what he said “But what they also created was enormous discussion on what you should do for someone who is drinking too much. People said to us ‘Why didn’t someone do something or say something?”

“We commissioned research on what would motivate or stop people from taking action. We found most New Zealanders agree that they have a role in taking action to prevent someone they care about from drinking too much and experiencing harm, but that many of them don’t have the confidence around what they can do and when and how they might do it. They were also afraid of damaging their relationship with the drinker.” said Mr Vaughan.

In order to help the friends and family understand how, why and when they should have the conversation with a heavy drinking person the new campaign is focusing on these aspects of handling a drinker. The potential influencer is shown in ads addressing the alcohol problem of the friend and dealing with it in a relaxed and confident manner.

Mr Vaughan said “As New Zealanders we pride ourselves on being good mates and caring about our families - alcohol is an area where we can do small and simple things that can help people make positive changes to the way they drink - which is good for everyone.”

The first of the three new television advertisements was seen last night. It was based in a rugby clubroom where two friends John and Sam are getting ready for practice. John is hosting a BBQ the next weekend and invites Sam to come over. At the same time he uses the opportunity to tell Sam about how his drinking impacts him and others around him by asking Sam not to bring his “mates” with him.

The mates being the different types of people Sam becomes when he drinks too much such as ‘Shouty Sam’, ‘Punchy Sam’ and ‘Hit on everyone’s Missus Sam’. There are flashbacks to previous BBQs where Sam has turned into one of these mates. It shows Sam processing what John has said even though he is taken aback initially. The ad ends with the tag line ‘Ease up on the drink’

There are also tips and information provided on the website to help people have the conversation with their friends. All the conversations take place after a drinking session rather than at the time a person is drunk.