Yet Another Sensible Drink Campaign launched

October 2009 saw the launch of the ‘Campaign for Smarter Drinking’, the latest attempt to persuade young adults not to binge drink.

The campaign, billed as being funded to the tune of £100 million over five years, is being implemented in England in conjunction with the Drinkaware Trust and with the support of the Department of Health. Forty-five drinks producers and retailers are involved in the campaign, which will “offer practical tips to make sure good times don’t go bad, such as reminders to drink water or soft drinks, eat food and plan to get home safely.” The campaign claims it will take a social marketing approach to “use outdoor advertising, signs, drink mats in pubs and bars, on-drink and point of sale displays in retailers to deliver its message.”

Critics claim that on the face of it, the campaign appears to add little to previous efforts. There has been an assortment of responsible drinking campaigns over recent years, funded by a range of government departments as well as industry-funded organisations. Drinks industry giant Diageo launched its own responsible drinking website, and there have been a number of Home Office campaigns alongside the £10 million NHS Know Your Limits campaign.

Interestingly, Sainsburys have refused to participate in the latest effort precisely on the grounds that it merely duplicates other educational initiatives that are already taking place.

However, some public health bodies have made even harsher criticisms, claiming not only that such campaigns are a waste of money but also that the campaign for smarter drinking is little more than a ploy by the drinks industry to head off the threat of mandatory controls on the retailing of alcohol.

Professor Ian Gilmore, Chair of the UK Alcohol Health Alliance and President of the Royal college of Physicians, commented:

“There is very little evidence that health messages work to prevent binge or harmful drinking. Instead, all the international evidence shows that increasing the price and reducing the availability of alcohol, together with bans on advertising, are the main methods of reducing alcohol-related harm. We need strong government action in these areas right now.” Was the Mandatory Code doomed anyway?

Alcohol Concern’s Don Shenker went further, describing the campaign as “yet another example of the drinks industry trying desperately to avoid mandatory legislation. ‘We’ve seen this before from the industry,” he said. “There was a big fanfare when Drinkaware was launched but the money never materialised.”

He added that the campaign’s budget had been calculated at ratecard and through in-kind payments, and as a result the funding was not nearly as great as it sounded. Shenker’s view appeared to be given support by an unnamed drinks industry informant who was reported in a trade journal as agreeing that the purpose of the campaign was to avoid a mandatory code of practice. “The industry has been told by government that if you cough up, we won’t introduce it,’ said the source.

This may have been a reference to a letter from Health Secretary Andy Burnham to the Campaign for Smarter Drinking’s Director, Richard Evans. In the letter, Burnham states that the new campaign plans to make extensive use of point-of sale, advertising and on pack communication and therefore any new mandatory messaging requirements for these media….could potentially conflict with the (new campaign’s) messages and therefore potentially confuse consumers, as well as competing for space in media where space is physically limited.” Burnham goes on to say that the Government therefore wishes to give the new campaign the opportunity to prove its effectiveness before bringing in any mandatory messaging requirements. As the new campaign is scheduled to run for 5 years, that appears to rule out any mandatory code for at least that period of time.