You wouldn't start a night like this, so why end it that way?

Launch of new Home Office binge drinking advertising campaign

A new, hard-hitting national advertising campaign to drive home the serious consequences of binge drinking to 18 to 24 year olds was unveiled today by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

The £4 million campaign, which includes a range of television, radio, print and online adverts, is designed to challenge prevailing attitudes and change behaviour among young adults who binge drink. It poses the question: 'You wouldn't start a night like this, so why end it that way?'

The centrepiece of the campaign is two new television adverts that graphically highlight the consequences of binge drinking by reversing the sequence of a night out gone wrong. The adverts show a man and woman getting ready at home for a night out. They end with the man leaving home bloody and damaged and the woman closing her front door with smeared make-up and vomit in her hair.

The campaign is part of a wider package of measures already put in place by the Government since the Alcohol Strategy was published last year to tackle harmful drinking across the board, including:

• new laws to tackle underage drinking in public;
• national police campaigns to confiscate drink from young people and clamp down on irresponsible retailers;
• tougher sanctions for premises that sell alcohol to young people;
• national trials of short sharp shocks for people arrested for alcohol related offences;
• and independent research into the links to alcohol pricing and promotions and the harm they cause.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said:

"We are not prepared to tolerate alcohol-fuelled crime and disorder on our streets and this new campaign will challenge people to think twice about the serious consequences of losing control.

"Binge drinking is not only damaging to health but it makes individuals vulnerable to harm. People who are drunk are much more likely to be involved in an accident or assault, be charged with a criminal offence, contract a sexually transmitted disease or have an unplanned pregnancy.

"This campaign reinforces Government action already underway to deal with excessive drinking, including tougher sanctions for licensees who sell to young people, new powers for the police to disperse disruptive drinkers and better education and information for everyone."

The new adverts were unveiled alongside an innovative window display on Long Acre in central London, which re-enacts scenes from the television campaign. The display will run for two weeks and will be complemented by a viral video downloadable via a Bluetooth connection at the site. A team of street marketers will be on hand to engage the target audience face-to-face to reinforce the campaign messages. There are plans to recreate the shop window display in town centres up and down the country.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service and Association of Chief Police Officers lead for licensing Chris Allison said:

"The consequences of drinking to excess are severe to those young people who become victims of crime, incur serious injuries as a result of having drunk too much, or commit crime fuelled by alcohol, and to those others who do serious and life-threatening damage to their own health over the long term.

"Nationally, police forces are taking tough action against alcohol-related crime. But we cannot simply police our way out of this problem. Any new initiative which grabs attention and stimulates action by parents, local agencies and young people themselves is welcome. The Know Your Limits campaign offers better education which can help tackle the problem at its root causes."

Chief Executive of Alcohol Concern Don Shenker said:

"We're very happy to support this new Home Office campaign. Young men and women form the group most likely to binge drink. Not only does this in many cases lead to involvement in accidents and violence, but regular bingeing can also be a precursor to later, harmful drinking behaviour. It's vital that we challenge the attitude widespread among young people that socialising must always involve heavy drinking. This will take time, but this sizeable campaign is an important contribution to that process."

The binge drinking adverts are part of a wider £10 million Government public information campaign designed to raise awareness about the dangers of excessive drinking. All campaign materials have been thoroughly tested among target audiences. The Department of Health 'Units' campaign was launched in May and uses iconic imagery to remind the public about the recommended alcohol consumption guidelines.

Notes to editors

1. Copies of the television, internet and print adverts can be downloaded from ftp://ftp.vccp.com (user name: Homeoff; password: 4cobin). To request a broadcast quality copy of the television adverts please contact the Home Office press office 020 7035 3831.

2. The television adverts will be appear in youth programming before and after a night out to capture people when they will be more responsive, as well as on sport and music channels. The radio adverts will target youth programming on national and regional stations. Print advertising will feature in men's and women's magazines such as Nuts, Zoo, NME, FHM, and Loaded and Heat, Closer, Now, Reveal, Cosmopolitan, and Glamour.

3. The window display will run for two weeks at 69-76 Long Acre, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9JH.

4. Binge drinking can be defined as drinking too much alcohol over a short period of time, which typically leads to drunkenness, and drinking deliberately to get drunk. This is usually identified as drinking over six units a day for women or over eight units a day for men. In practice, many binge drinkers drink substantially more than this level or drink this amount too quickly. Binge drinking is a major factor in accidents, violence and anti-social behaviour.

5. The British Crime Survey shows that 46 per cent of victims of violent incidents believed the offender to be under the influence of alcohol and 18-24 year-olds are most often associated with alcohol related offences.