The theme of the campaign is "Know your limits" and encompasses TV, print, radio and online ads, with a dedicated providing help and advice. It is jointly funded by the Department of Health and the Home Office.
The warning message in the ads is "Alcohol makes you feel invincible when you are most vulnerable".
Tonight's TV ad was created by United London and shows a superhero character sprinting through a crowd drinking outside a bar in pursuit of two "L-plate" balloons, which have escaped from a hen party.
As the balloons drift upwards, the masked hero, dressed in steel-coloured suit like RoboCop or Batman, scales several stories of scaffolding to the amazement of the crowd who watch him flip and jump his way towards the balloons. Finally when the balloons are almost within his grasp he slips as he reaches out to grab them. As he falls, he is revealed not to be a superhero, but a young man dressed in ordinary clothes.
The onlookers scream as he falls and hits the ground, and the ad closes gruesomely with a close-up of his splayed out body twitching on the ground.
Caroline Flint, the public health minister said: "This is the government's first national campaign on alcohol. We hope to affect a change in the binge drinking culture in this country.
"Those aged 18 to 24 are most likely to drink irresponsibly and cause harm to themselves and others."
According to the government, the campaign is also designed to appeal to a slightly younger age group, which research suggests may already be drinking illegally. It hopes to be able to influence their future drinking habits if messages are targeted to them earlier.
The campaign includes two other TV spots, including one featuring someone running into a busy road. There will also be a less gruesome cut-down version of the L-plates spot.
All executions play on the idea that young people think they are superheroes when they are drunk, as well as posters featuring a girl who has been sexually assaulted, someone who has been mugged and someone being taken away by the police in handcuffs.
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