Next week, a TV ad will hit our screens that breaks new ground in brand advertising. For the first time in UK TV history, an alcohol brand will tell its customers, in a gentle, friendly way, not to drink so much.
The campaign, by Diageo vodka brand Smirnoff, marks a watershed in advertising.
Until now Smirnoff, like all commercial brands, has pursued the mantra that sales and profits are king. Now it is turning that philosophy on its head and instead of simply saying 'drink more of me', its message is almost the reverse: 'drink me in moderation'.
The triggers for Diageo's change of heart are well documented. Binge drinking - particularly among young women - is spiralling, with 27% of 16- to 24-year-old females and 14% of 25- to 44-year-olds drinking more than six units of alcohol on at least one day a week.
Alcohol is directly responsible for 4000 UK deaths a year and indirectly responsible for 28,000. Ireland has seen similar problems and introduced strict rules for alcohol advertising earlier this year. Last week the British Medical Association turned up the heat, calling for a total ban on TV ads for alcohol.
David Poley, policy director at The Portman Group, says this threat is real. "The drinks industry needs to be aware of the threat and now that it has not got the buffer of tobacco advertising between it and the public health lobby it is more important than ever that the industry observes the spirit and the letter of the advertising rules."
The food industry is facing similar kinds of pressures from the obesity lobby, but we've yet to see McDonald's creating an ad to warn people that eating three Big Macs with fries every day might make you fat.
Promoting moderation
Diageo is promising a whole set of measures to promote the sensible drinking message. It is putting £500,000 behind the Smirnoff campaign - about a tenth of Smirnoff's marketing budget, and has just appointed Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO to come up with other ways, both above and below the line, to impart the idea that it's good to know when to stop.
But can brands really change human behaviour?
Hugh Burkitt, chief executive of The Marketing Society, says no. He believes brand advertising influences brand choice, but not overall behaviour.
"In my view, advertising has a very weak influence on consumption. The alcopop market in this country was started by Two Dogs and Hooch and people started drinking them without any advertising behind them at all."
But this begs the obvious question: if Burkitt is right, why should Diageo bother with its responsible drinking campaign? "Frankly, it needs to be seen to be doing something," Burkitt says. He is astounded the industry has taken so long to respond to the pressures. "Drinks companies have simply buried their heads in the sand and completely forgotten about responsibility issues."
US drinks companies have been quicker off the mark. Smirnoff has been doing responsible drinking advertising in the US for at least two years.
So why the hesitation here?
Philip Gladman, marketing director for Smirnoff and Archers and a key supporter of Diageo's policy, says: "It's a tough nut to crack. It's knowing how to do it. The UK market is incredibly cynical about ads, and to get across a 'drink less' or 'don't have fun' message is a very difficult challenge."
Choosing the right brands to convey the message is vital, he adds.
This makes Smirnoff's involvement somewhat ironic given it was the brand that attracted 48 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority for an ad showing a naked man sliding down a banister. Gladman says Diageo did consider using Smirnoff Ice, but found people wouldn't buy it. "Research showed that if Smirnoff Ice did it, it would be like your little brother telling you what to do. But they believed it from Smirnoff, because it has the status to deliver the message".
In the ad, a couple called Hank and Cindy are sitting at a restaurant table, obviously besotted with each other. Matt, an old acquaintance of Hank's passes, spots Hank and is introduced to Cindy, Hank's fiancee. Matt congratulates them on the news, at which point there is a break in the ad to allow the phrase 'Now would be a good time to stop' to be flashed on screen. The ad resumes and Matt proceeds to regale the couple with memories of the good old days when Hank was a bit of a ladies man. As the insensitive friend rambles on, Hank cringes in his seat while Cindy becomes visibly shocked and upset.
The tagline is: 'Knowing when to stop is a good thing' and the end frame is 'A reminder from Smirnoff'.
Budweiser's precedent
The ad bears more than a passing resemblance to the latest Budweiser spot in which a best man at a wedding makes an outrageous and cringeworthy speech detailing the groom's indiscretions prior to meeting his wife.
But the paradox is that while Budweiser uses the plot for advertising's traditional purpose - to sell more beer, Smirnoff uses it to encourage drinkers to check their intake.
Gladman says the first burst of TV is a test, and the campaign may attract more media investment if it is found to be working. But how will Diageo measure its success?
In the US, the ad has performed exceptionally well, according to Diageo.
Research showed that people 'enjoyed watching it very much (20% higher than average) and a high proportion found it involving (40% higher than average)'. And in UK pre-research, most viewers "enjoyed the ad, understood the message, and felt it is a credible point for Smirnoff to make," says Gladman.
People may like it, but how do you tell whether this enjoyment translates into changing drinking patterns - surely Diageo isn't hoping to see Smirnoff sales plunge? "If sales dropped we would never know exactly why - whether it was the campaign or the recession or any other reason," says Gladman.
"You measure success by measuring attitudes, you can't count it in cases."
He insists the strategy is not merely an attempt to stave off legislation, and that encouraging consumers to drink sensibly is good for business.
He wants the rest of the industry to get on board, and uses the 'Think' road safety campaign as an example of what can be achieved if an industry gets behind a problem. "If you drive out of a service station, you see 'Think' painted on the road. If you buy a new car or hire a car you are automatically given 'Think' information. It just serves to remind people that sometimes we all drive a little too fast. Car manufacturers really got behind it," he says.
Perhaps not surprisingly, until now it has been the industry watchdog, The Portman Group, that has been trying to get young people to re-examine their drinking habits. Its campaign 'If you do do drink, don't do drunk' has been running for two years and involves actors in student bars pretending to get very drunk and lose control.
Burkitt, who also sits on The Portman Group's independent complaints panel, applauds The Portman Group for its initiative but says those kinds of messages have much more credibility coming from a brand. "It's more effective than coming from some annoying council that people have never heard of."
Closed shop?
The Portman Group has itself come under fire recently from the manufacturers of Roxxoff, the pre-mixed vodka drink it tried to ban (Marketing, July 3). Roxxoff's marketing chief Chris Williams described the watchdog as a "closed shop which only exists to protect its members from newcomers to the market like Roxxoff and fcuk Spirit". Williams wants to see it scrapped in favour of a government body, and has found an unlikely ally in the charity Alcohol Concern, which would also prefer an independent regulator overseeing the industry.
But The Portman Group's Poley points out that its complaints panel is independent, and has ruled against member companies' products as well as non-members. "The Portman Group can confidently look forward to a much longer life span than Roxxoff," he says.
Scottish Courage is also experimenting with responsible drinking messages, with Foster's telling visitors to the British Grand Prix from July 20 to 22 that 'If you drink and drive you are a bloody idiot' in Foster's inimitable Aussie way.
The slogan will appear on all entry, exit and directional signage and a spokesman promises "You won't be able to miss it".
But critical though the alcohol problem is, there is more at stake here than changing binge-drinking culture. If the drinks industry's responsible drinking messages do have an effect on consumption, that will be the first indication of the ability of commercial brands to steer societal change.
COMPLAINTS ABOUT DIAGEO ADS
Brand Date No of Medium/campaign Decision
compl-
aints
Smirnoff Ice 26/2/2003 4 Taxi/I've nothing
against cyclists Not upheld
Southern Comfort 27/3/2002 1 Poster/Find your
comfort zone Not upheld
Smirnoff 10/10/2001 48 Poster/If Smirnoff
made painkillers Upheld
Jose Cuervo 10/5/2000 2 Poster/Do not slam Not upheld
Smirnoff 5/4/2000 3 Cinema/No
imperfections Not upheld
Bell's 8/3/2000 8 Poster/Aged eight
years Not upheld
Smirnoff Ice 9/2/2000 1 Posters/As clear as
your conscience Upheld
Smirnoff Mule 8/12/1999 1 Poster/It shouldn't
work but it does Not upheld
Pimm's 3/11/1999 1 Press/Uncap the
Pimm's Not upheld
Smirnoff 12/4/1999 1 Press/The difference
is clear Not upheld
Source: Advertising Standards Authority
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