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Binge-drinking adverts launched | Binge-drinking adverts launched |
(10 minutes later) | |
A series of adverts warning 18- to 24-year-olds about the shocking consequences of binge-drinking is being launched by the Home Office. | |
The TV footage shows young people injuring themselves, being violent and smearing vomit in their hair. | |
The £4m campaign asks: "You wouldn't start a night like this, so why end it that way?" | |
The adverts will be shown in the evening and late at night to catch viewers before and after nights out. | |
One shows a young man ripping out his earring, smashing a wardrobe door in his face, urinating on his shoes and pouring a takeaway meal down his shirt while getting ready to go out. | |
Binge drinking is not only damaging to health but it makes individuals vulnerable to harm Home Secretary Jacqui Smith | |
Another shows a young woman smudging make-up down her face, ripping her clothes and putting vomit in her hair. | |
Online adverts also depict the aftermath of a binge-drinking session, with one showing a man smashing up a kebab shop and a woman getting into a car with a stranger. | |
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the campaign would "challenge people to think twice about the serious consequences of losing control". | |
"Binge drinking is not only damaging to health but it makes individuals vulnerable to harm," she said. | |
"People who are drunk are much more likely to be involved in an accident or assault, be charged with a criminal offence, contract a sexually transmitted disease or have an unplanned pregnancy." | |
Health damage | |
Chris Allison, licensing spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers, said the consequences of drinking to excess meant more young people committed crime and became victims of crime. | |
It also led to more serious injuries and long-term health damage, he said. | |
The campaign shows how a night binge drinking can end | |
"Any new initiative which grabs attention and stimulates action by parents, local agencies and young people themselves is welcome," he added. | |
Chief executive of Alcohol Concern, Don Shenker, said it was vital to "challenge the attitude widespread among young people that socialising must always involve heavy drinking". | |
"This will take time, but this sizeable campaign is an important contribution to that process," he added. | |
Print versions of the adverts will also appear in men's and women's magazines, and mannequins and props will demonstrate the message in a series of shop window displays in London's Covent Garden. |