Units

Background

Drinking alcohol is ingrained in our national psyche. This is not something that has happened overnight - habits have been formed over thousands of years. Drinking is a national pastime and it enjoys many positive associations: it’s sociable, it’s relaxing, it’s fun and it’s legal. The challenge was not to tell people that they should not drink, but to drink in moderation. The Department of Health briefed VCCP to begin educating the public about alcohol with the following objectives: to inform people how many units are in alcoholic drinks, to communicate sensible drinking levels and reinforce that men should not regularly exceed 3-4 units a day and women 2-3 and to highlight the health consequences of regularly exceeding these daily amounts

The campaign has been a huge success. Prompted advertising recognition across all media was 73% after the campaign launched, far exceeding COI targets. Before the campaign only 6% correctly said there were 3 units in a large glass of wine but this more than tripled to 21% after the first burst of activity. There has been a notable improvement in awareness of daily units guideline figures: from 29% to 34% saying that the recommended maximum number of units per day for men is 3-4.