Responsible drinking — it's up to all of us

With Drinkaware's 'Why let good times go bad?' campaign for 2010 set to be launched next month, the chief executive outlines the plans — and urges the whole trade to get involved.

It might seem hard to believe, but this time a year ago the Why let good times go bad? campaign was launched with cross-industry support. And in just a few weeks we'll launch the second year of the campaign, which we plan to make even bigger and better.

It needs to be — you only have to pick up a newspaper or walk down the street on a Friday or Saturday night to see that binge drinking among young adults is still a problem that we all need to tackle together.

We know that things will not change overnight. Binge drinking isn't a new phenomenon and tackling it is going to take a cultural shift. Achieving that cultural shift means challenging the social acceptability of drunkenness — no mean feat with nearly a third of 18 to 24-year-olds admitting they drink to get drunk when they go out. That's why we've targeted "irresponsible shamefuls", the people who do get drunk, but feel guilty about their behaviour and vow never to do it again.

Working together​

We also know that if we tell young adults not to drink, we will not be effective. Research shows that they are open to practical advice, as long as it is delivered in a non-lecturing tone and they don't have to go out of their way to find it.

That's why the Why let good times go bad? campaign gives young adults tips for smarter drinking such as: eating before drinking; pacing yourself with water and soft drinks; and looking after your mates.

The key thing is that we all need to work together.

Thanks to industry support, we're making sure we deliver the campaign's tips to young people at all stages of their night out — supermarkets will carry shelf barkers and products with campaign-branded neck collars, posters will be featured on phone boxes and in public transport areas, while pubs and clubs will display posters and drink mats featuring the campaign tips.

This year we will reach even more young adults through Drinkaware's partnership with the National Union of Students (NUS), giving us access to 7.5 million students across the UK.

Targeted work with the NUS, combined with the outdoor media reach of the campaign, means we can build on last year's success and further strengthen the campaign in its

second year.

Get involved​

If you're not involved, you should be. This five-year, £100m social responsibility activity is a landmark campaign. Nowhere in the world have so many parties come together to tackle binge drinking. And the more parties that come on board, the more effective we can be in getting smarter drinking messages to young adult drinkers.

An evaluation of the campaign last year showed that 70% of young adults and 61% of the target audience would adopt the tips, and 51% said it would make them think differently about their drinking habits.

It is successful public-health campaigns like this one, which don't cost the taxpayer a penny, that will help make change happen.

Drunken behaviour isn't good for anyone — it affects the health of the person, it puts financial pressure on the National Health Service, police and wider society, and it reflects badly on the brands and premises linked with it. Why let good times go bad? is designed to reduce drunken behaviour among young adults and its harmful social and health consequences.

If we work together we can ensure that we make a difference — and society as a whole stands to gain.

The campaign at a glance​

• Alcohol producers, on and off-trade retailers and Coca-Cola are supporting the campaign.

• More than 9,000 on-trade outlets nationwide will display posters, drink mats and mirror stickers, carrying the campaign creatives and the Why let good times go bad? logo.

• Phone boxes and underground stations showing one of four campaign posters promoting campaign tips: eating before drinking; pacing yourself with water or soft drinks; looking after your mates.

• Almost 7,000 off-trade stores including supermarkets and other retailers of alcohol will present the campaign message on posters, shelf strips and fridge stickers.

• Twelve million alcohol products, including bottles with neck labels, cans and multi-packs, will feature the logo.