Anti-drinking Campaign Ads May Be 'Catastrophically Misconceived'

It's important to do the kind of cultural anthropological analysis that this research does in order to realise that educational advertising really does have to understand first the connotative and social meaning of the things they are dealing with. In some ways this states the obvious.

“Extreme inebriation is often seen as a source of personal esteem and social affirmation amongst young people,” said Professor Christine Griffin from the University of Bath, who led the research with colleagues from Royal Holloway, University of London and the University of Birmingham.
“Our detailed research interviews revealed that tales of alcohol-related mishaps and escapades were key markers of young peoples’ social identity. These ‘drinking stories’ also deepen bonds of friendship and cement group membership. Not only does being in a friendship group legitimise being very drunk - being the subject of an extreme drinking story can raise esteem within the group.”

However, it needs joining up with reflection on how, then, current 'edutising' is actually heard and therefore how to give messages that will actually be heard. Part of the problem in Nordic and Anglo-Saxon societies is precisely the 'heroic' mindset which I postulate goes back to viking and similar ancestral culture where hard drinking was part of the feast mentality and became a macho bonding thing. Unless we address that culture properly, we will not get very far. No matter how much 'European cafe culture' we try to import via drinking hours and town planning. It's a quasi mythic thing; the fact that there are exaggerations and stylised templates for telling the 'I was so drunk...' stories tells us that, in Barthesian terms, we are dealing with myths. The act of drinking too much grants individuals access to the myth and the social status and bonding that it is there to offer and preserve. The myth needs subverting or replacing. Subversion is rarely successful 'from above'...
Anti-drinking Campaign Ads May Be 'Catastrophically Misconceived':