Government unveils new public information campaign

A new advertising campaign to promote responsible drinking, worth more than £10m, is to be launched by the government.

Running from April 2008, the next phase will look to raise the public awareness of alcohol units, while campaigning to challenge public acceptance of drunkenness.

Another major aim of the campaign will be to give information and advice to harmful drinkers and their friends and families.

The strategy highlights the need to focus on the minority of drinkers who cause or experience the most harm and whose drinking affects their communities, friends and families.

Advertising agencies are being asked to submit their proposals, which will follow on from the previous ŒKnow Your Limits¹ campaign. This urged young people to know their limits when they have a drink. The adverts illustrated scenarios where young people, thinking they were Œsuperheroes¹ while drunk, took risks with their health and safety.

The three priority audience groups for the new campaign are:

• 18-24 year old binge drinkers, a minority of whom are responsible for the majority of alcohol-related crime and disorder in the night-time economy
• harmful drinkers, many of whom do not realise their drinking patterns damage their physical and mental health and may be causing harm to themselves and others
• young people under 18 who drink alcohol, many of whom drink more than their counterparts did a decade ago.

Cerys Adams, a member of the cross-government Alcohol Strategy Delivery Group, said: "Changing our drinking culture is one of the most challenging briefs facing government.

"This marks a change of gear in how we communicate with the public about alcohol.² The forthcoming campaign will put into practice proposals contained in the government¹s Safe. Sensible. Social alcohol strategy, published in June this year and led by the Home Office and the Department of Health.