Binge drinking - it's everyone's problem 
03 April 2006 

A new series of television advertisements aiming to get New Zealanders to recognise how their own behaviours may contribute to New Zealand's binge drinking culture hit the airways last night.

The advertisements are the most visible public component of the Alcohol Advisory Council's (ALAC) programme to change New Zealand's drinking culture. The advertising part of the programme - first launched in March 2005 - is to help New Zealanders reduce the amount of alcohol they drink on any one occasion.

ALAC Chief Executive Officer Dr Mike MacAvoy says the new television advertisements are aimed at New Zealanders who have recognised the binge-drinking problem and are ready to think about behaviour change.

"They focus on everyday situations, and draw on the consequences our research shows us that people fear the most about being drunk such as embarrassment, being a bad parent and relationship break-ups.

"People switch off if the consequences portrayed are too extreme thinking 'that will never happen to me'. But these situations a lot of people will recognise. In the past, many people have excused such consequences, put such behaviour down to 'drunken antics' and laughed it off. Well, these negative consequences need not occur.

"Yes, the more serious harms are a more serious worry. But it's important we engage with and relate to drinkers. Reducing drunkenness will not only reduce the harms we see portrayed in the ads but also the more serious harms."

In one advertisement a drunken father embarrasses his young teenage daughter on the dance floor at a wedding. In another, a young woman confronts her drunken self in the middle of a big night out on the town watching her drunken self doing embarrassing things she wouldn't do if sober.

In the third, a young man at a work function is making an idiot of himself and is arguing with his sober self who is telling him not to mess it up with his girlfriend.

The television advertisements will be backed up by strategically placed press advertisements aimed at those who see binge drinking as some one else's problem.

They feature a number of statistics to emphasise this such as:

• It's not just a youth issue - 46 percent of heavy drinkers earn more than $50,000
• It's not just a youth issue - 65 percent of heavy drinkers are over 30 years old
• One in five heavy drinkers admit they have let their family or children down when they got drunk
• One in four heavy drinkers admit they have done something they regretted while drunk

"It's not the drinking that's the problem; it's how we drink, that is, the excessive per occasion consumption," says Dr MacAvoy.

"New Zealand is a nation that seems to pride itself on the 'save it up for Friday night' style of drinking, the 'we deserve a drink' perspective or 'it's a rite of passage that causes little harm'.

"This pattern of drinking results in more harms and social costs than those incurred by the dependent drinker," he says.

"ALAC's programme to change New Zealand's drinking culture is a long-term strategy. It's not a silver bullet that'll solve the problem overnight and we've never painted it as such. Just as the drink driving and the Make it Click campaigns took several years to succeed, so too will this strategy take time to impact.

"What our monitoring is showing is that people are acknowledging New Zealand has a binge drinking problem, and they are also increasingly aware of the wide range of harms that result from drunkenness.

"People are recognising that the harms are more than drink driving related or dependency and include physical injuries resulting from accidents or fights; embarrassment from indulging in behaviours that you wouldn't normally indulge in; problems with relationships because of alcohol; problems at work - all are associated with excessive per occasion consumption.

"However, despite acknowledgement of a problem, we've got a way to go before all sectors of our society admit it's all sectors actually getting drunk and causing problems. There's still too much finger pointing and 'it's not me' or 'it's a young person's problem'.

"Work still needs to be done with some groups regarding the scale and scope of the problem, that is, understanding that binge drinking across all populations and situations in New Zealand is causing harm.

"We all have a role to play whether it is changing we personally drink, or changing the way we react to other people getting drunk. Single solutions do not work; what is needed is this comprehensive programme aimed at a single goal of eliminating intoxication."

The background work to the programme of work was robust and unequivocal and ALAC is delighted at the support the programme has received from Government and stakeholders.

For further information or to speak to Dr MacAvoy contact Belinda Airey on 04 917 0510 or 021 369 082