Sense Group targets festa revellers

The Sense Group has launched its summer anti-bingeing campaign, focusing on the summer festa season but also promoting the designated driver concept, launched last December by TSG, which campaigns for moderation in the consumption of alcohol by adults.

The Sense Group said this year's festa campaign was an extension of the "Don't be the village fool" campaign, first launched two summers ago.

A new set of cartoon artworks portray the drunken person as the laughing stock of the town or village. The cartoons will feature in various towns and villages feast magazines.

Each cartoon shows a different scene with a person, who lost his sense of better judgement because of abusive drinking. The tag-line presents the same message: "Enjoy the feast: Drink in Moderation".

"All these adverts are specifically aimed at all those who abuse alcoholic beverages during their locality's external festivities," Joe Farrugia, TSG's chief executive said.

The adverts were partly based on research done abroad, which revealed that warning people about their foolishness when drunk was a more effective tool than simply portraying alcoholism in a bad light.

TSG's message was also directed at all beverage retail outlets that sell alcoholic drinks, particularly during festa celebrations.

Turning to the drinking and driving issue, Mr Farrugia said that in summer, there were more opportunities for socialising, without going beyond the limit and spoiling all the fun while putting everyone at risk.

"It is a good idea if a different designated person is appointed each time to drive the others home. This person refrains from drinking alcohol. This way, people can enjoy themselves," he said.

The designated driver campaign would be using a variety of media including radio, print, television and billboards.

"The principal aim of our campaigns is to educate the public that beverage alcohol is only pleasurable if taken by persons of drinking age and in moderation. As producers and importers, we want to make a very clear statement: we do not agree and cannot accept that alcoholic beverages are abused of in any way, either through irresponsible consumption, or by attempts to demonise a perfectly legal product which has been used for celebrations for millennia," Mr Farrugia said.