These companies sponsor horrific ‘don’t drink & drive’ advertising campaigns to further distance themselves from their responsibilities. After all it’s against the law to drink and drive, if you were responsible this wouldn’t happen. These campaigns also act as a benchmark of the meaning of responsibility. If we consider actually murdering someone by driving whilst intoxicated as our meaning of being irresponsible then everything else between brushing your teeth in the morning to getting blitz out of your mind on a Friday night, prior to murdering a pedestrian by means of operating a moving vehicle, falls within the bracket of responsibility.
The fact is if we want to be responsible about how we drink we need to change our perception of what drink is and what it does to us. To do this we need to take more control over how drink companies advertise. They are very clever at clouding the negative effects of alcohol and extremely savvy at promoting the momentary bliss that comes with complete intoxication.
We need to learn that despite what the adverts tell us, drinking alcohol does not mean everyone is suddenly having fun, it doesn’t mean we are at a party, it isn’t the only source of meeting new people, it doesn’t mean we can now dance or sing better than before, it doesn’t increase your chances of finding the things you’re looking for in life or whatever it is the drink companies are telling us these days.
We need to be more aware that the consequence of too much alcohol isn’t just outright murder. We need to take a mental note that alcohol is a drug and just slightly too much can leave you feeling depressed and/or stressed. If we want to drink responsibly we need to know what the results will look like, otherwise it’s rather an empty message.
Ultimately I think if society is to be responsible over preventing the truth from being diluted we need to ensure that the cash rich drink industry doesn’t control the perception of alcohol. Tobacco companies aren’t allowed target us with tv advertising, billboards or radio ads and I don’t believe drink companies should be allowed to either. France, Norway, Russia, Ukraine, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Kenya have all banned advertising on television and billboards so this is not a new concept. I think it’s just about time we answer the drink companies call to take responsibility and look to make changes in the way we perceive alcohol, and that begins with putting an end to their propaganda.