I wrote a few lines on the subject a while ago and I have decided to continue this post after I saw the rather interesting ‘Know your limits’ campaign from the NHS. This campaign will definitely have an impact on binge drinking and on people’s perception of the different measures however I am still sceptical that this kind of communication can have an impact on the roots of the problem in the UK: ‘casual drinking’.
By ‘casual drinking’ I mean consuming alcohol on a regular basis and necessarily in enormous quantity. “In England in 2005, 73% of men and 58% of women reported drinking an alcoholic drink on at least one day in the week.” (Source NHS)
Another problem comes from the fact that notions such as fun or entertainment are, in a way, being assimilated to alcohol. To plagiarize Polaroid, alcohol serves, as a social lubricant in the UK and this is the main problem communication should try to tackle.

If you look at the recent London Underground drinking party, what struck me was that people went into the street (or tube) and fought for their ‘freedom’ in the name of alcohol! You haven’t that many recent demonstrations examples in the UK apart from the war in Iraq so it gives you an understanding of what alcohol means for people!

Just to clarify, I am not saying that I have all the answers and that changing people behaviour on this subject is easy but from what I’ve witnessed they are two main problems: a short term and a long term one and only the first one is on the radar at the moment.
Anyway I am going to do more research on the subject and start to think how to answer this problem. If any of you is interested in the subject, you can drop me an email and we’ll go for a coffee!

[Pic via]