Government targets culture of sport, binge drinking and violence in new campaign

Young males who drink too much are the target of a hard-hitting Bligh Government advertising campaign being featured in this weekend’s Sunday Mail.

Premier Anna Bligh and Treasurer and minister responsible for Liquor Licensing Andrew Fraser today revealed that the sports section of the newspaper paper would, for the first time, feature graphic advertisements urging young men to think about the consequences of binge drinking.

“For many Queensland blokes the sports section of a newspaper is the first page they turn to. It’s virtually a sporting bible,” said the Premier.

“That’s exactly why we’ve decided to place our hard-hitting ads right there.

“Every weekend we receive reports of another glassing, another pub brawl, another assault or another injury caused by a moment of drunken stupidity.”

Mr Fraser said the campaign was designed to confront young men with the dire consequences of drinking too much - a scar for life, a ruined life or a life lost.

“Families and friends of young people around the state are facing these realities nearly every weekend,” he said.

“It just might make them think twice about the consequences of over-indulging in a Sunday session while watching the footy, cricket or at the races.

“It is time to take a stand against the growing culture of binge drinking and violence. It is not acceptable to go out and drink to excess without thinking about the harm you may cause yourself and those around you,” said Mr Fraser.

Mr Fraser said the advertisements had been market tested, with some interesting results.

“Young males were shocked at what they saw. These ads are aimed at making young men change their behaviour – much like anti-smoking and drink driving advertisements have changed people’s behaviour.’’

Mr Fraser said the ads were a sneak-peak of the second stage of the Every drink counts advertising campaign.

Phase two of the Government’s ‘no holds barred’, hard-hitting advertising campaign that aims to change Queensland’s drinking culture will be launched later this week.

It follows the release last month of the Don’t Kid Yourself television commercial which targets the supply of alcohol to minors by parents.

“We’ve had a really positive response across the board with these ads - parents, drug and alcohol groups, police and health workers they all agree these ads are well overdue.

Mr Fraser said this also helped the Bligh government achieve its Q2 goals – making Queenslanders Australia’s healthiest people and supporting safe and caring communities.

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