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PRESS RELEASE: 14.06.2010 People like to tell boozing storiesActing like a drunk fool is embarrassing, but it is cool to tell boozing stories to friends. Young adults feel that the adverse impacts of alcohol cannot be solved by hiding alcohol away. This information is based on the online survey carried out in the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry’s “Drunk, You’re a Fool” campaign. The results were released on Monday, 14 June. The Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry organised an online survey for 18-30-year-olds in April-June 2010. Close to 4,900 people responded to the survey. The respondents felt that it is very embarrassing to urinate or vomit in a public place (88%), to be too drunk to walk unassisted (84%) and to drink yourself senseless once a week (74%). However, only 63% considered that it is embarrassing to tell boozing stories to friends – around a tenth even considered it to be cool. “It seems that young adults feel that it is socially acceptable, up to a point, to tell boozing stories, even if they think that the acts themselves are shameful. With the ‘Drunk, You’re a Fool’ campaign, we wanted to inspire public discussion about alcohol abuse and the social impacts of binge drinking. We want to provide people with tools for questioning the dominant Finnish drinking habits and cultural glorification of drunkenness,” says Tero Kallio, Managing Director of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry. In the opinion of 86% of the respondents, alcohol problems cannot be solved by hiding alcohol away. “Instead of sweeping alcohol under the carpet, we should provide long-term education to influence the alcohol use of youth and future generations and our drinking culture as well as reduce the adverse impacts of alcohol,” says Kallio. Most Finns consume alcohol responsibly and in moderation, but the binge-drinking culture is a problem for both individuals and society, posing a challenge to responsible companies. “Now that Midsummer is almost here, we should keep in mind that there are many ways of having a good time. We should all think about what’s cool and what makes you look like a fool,” says Kallio. The “Drunk, You’re a Fool” campaign is currently ongoing in magazines and on the Internet at www.kannissaoletaalio.fi. Launched in 2007, the campaign has been a success. The campaign’s Internet site has been visited over 500,000 times and the campaign has won numerous awards. “The results of the campaign have been encouraging. We hope that our campaign will spur different parties in Finland to make outlays on alcohol education. For the sake of alcohol and drug education, it would be desirable that these parties would co-operate in spite of their differing views on alcohol policy,” says Kallio. For additional information,
contact: The Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry promotes the interests of producers of beer, cider, long drinks, soft drinks and mineral waters in Finland. Its members are Oy Hartwall Ab, Nokian Panimo Oy, Olvi Oyj and Oy Sinebrychoff Ab. The Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry operates in connection with the Finnish Food and Drink Industries Federation and represents Finland’s third largest industry in the food and drink branch in terms of the value of production. | |
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