The UK government is expected to invite agencies to pitch this summer(2004) for a £3 million campaign to promote sensible drinking and warn people of the dangers of binge drinking. The Department of Health and COI Communications want the campaign to tell young people that “its not cool to get drunk”. But Whitehall insiders admitted that the budget, to be spread over three years, will be “ a drop in the ocean” compared with the £200 million spent by the drinks industry advertising its products.”

Although the limited spend may rule out TV spots, officials hope that the ads will be hard hitting, along the lines of those about smoking and drink-driving, and attract widespread media attention. “It will try to get across, through peer pressure an attitudinal change that the idea of going out on Friday and Saturday night and drinking as much as possible is not really a very cool thing to do,” a Cabinet Office Spokesman said.

In a strategy on alcohol abuse published in March, the Government conceded that its current sensible drinking message, based on units of alcohol for men and women, was out of date, and was not working. It announced that Ofcom would undertake a review by this autumn of the code of practice for TV advertising “to ensure that it does not target young drinkers of glamorise irresponsible behaviour”.