ACT Policing's new underage drinking campaign is comedy gold

DrKoresh said :

Are the 9 boxes all horrible nightmarish outcomes?

I’m not sure the ad would be as effective if a large number of the boxes were “had a really good night” 😉

Anyway, creepy guy doesn’t look that creepy. I’m sure if he had a shave and took off those fake glasses he would be quite attractive to Sarah from Belconnen.

Judging by the facial hair, the baby-faced hipster is probably more interested in hooking up with the other Musketeers (or maybe Mouseketeers). Is the resemblance to a (somewhat) younger Hamish Blake part of a subtle subtext?

I suppose this effort is all of a piece with Volvo pursuit cars (or was that just a rumour?). A more effective option would be footage of tragic middle-aged/seniors living sad lives of welfare/booze/pokies, interspersed with pics of them when they were bright, hot kids – “this could happen to you”. Don’t suppose Clubs ACT would permit the filming, though.

poetix said :

Mmmm…I hope the message to boys is ‘peeing on women is never acceptable’,

You’ve never been to Germany then Poetix? It’s all the rage in certain circles.

gentoopenguin said :

Ben_Dover said :

I’d nail the hostess though.

You’d have to get her drunk first. It’s the hipster way, apparently.

I’m game if she is…

“Bacardi shots for you love?

Nice to know that the fuzz are still ‘hip’.

I wish I was underage so I could drink to that and laugh even harder at it’s somewhat skewed message!

Pork Hunt said :

Tooks said :

HardBallGets said :

So underage drinking is a crime that Police arrest young people for, ensuring they have a criminal record forever?

Really?

Odd message from the fun-stoppers really, because I thought they’ve just sunk a whole heap of cash in to diversion initiatives (EIPP & Youth Sobering Up Shelter) to ensure that young people who have consumed alcohol don’t end up in the justice system.

Oh well if there’s a police advert that says they arrest young drinkers and give them criminal records, then that is what they must be doing.

Maybe you should watch it again. WIth your eyes open this time. They never said you’d get a criminal record. It said a permanent record. If you think your interactions with police aren’t permanently recorded, you’re very naiive.

Drunk teens don’t go through the justice system unless they’ve committed an offence. They usually get punted home to their embarrassed parents or failing that, the drunk tank.

As for the ad itself, I think it’s lame, but it’s very hard to make such an ad that will actually have any effect on a teenager. I’d give them points for trying something different, and it was obviously meant to be humorous, but teens will think that is very very lame and I doubt it will have any effect whatsoever. This is the kind of education that should begin at home.

So drunk teens go into a drunk tank presumably because they are a danger to themselves, why then, don’t drunk drivers go into a drunk tank for the opposite reason?

Dunno. Most drink drivers aren’t drunk and aren’t a danger to themselves once taken off the road. You cam be well over the legal limit and not be drunk.

poetix said :

Doc Dogg said :

…

Of course we still got drunk and tried to score drunk chicks, but I do remember thinking about how much I was drinking and whether I could actually preform if I actually did get a chick in bed. It wasn’t until I moved towns that I went to parties that people would drink until they were unconscious. I even went to one where a girl drank so much she passed out behind a shed and some guys thought it would be funny to wee on her…and worse. That’s a story I’ll be telling my kids when they are old enough to start going out to parties.

Mmmm…I hope the message to boys is ‘peeing on women is never acceptable’, and if the ‘worse’ was sexual assault, that they should attempt to intervene if such a crime is taking place? And that only really weak men would think otherwise?

And if it’s a girl, that she is never to blame if some horrible item rapes her, even if she’s paralytic drunk in a public place? Or will the message be you must be eternally vigilant, or the consequences are all of your own making?

I’m just not sure what you mean by telling that story.

Reminds me of the time back in the early ’80s when a staff member of a nightclub described how he and two others peed on a paralytic female after closing hours ie. after 6am.Needless to say i lost any respect i had for that egomaniac who currently is spending some R&R at the AMC awaiting trial for further indiscretions.

It really disgusts me when humans cannot control their desires to take advantage of someone who is in no position,even if self-inflicted,to defend themselves.

I think a 3 in 8 chance of something bad happening is pretty good odds. After 2 shots of whatever they intended drinking they wouldn’t care anyway. Being taken home to mum and dad isn’t terrible if mum or dad were the ones who got ’em the alcohol in the first place, where else would they get it? Eventually someone of legal age had to have purchased it. Also, being underage they wouldn’t be able to get into a club to find mister douchebag, so if anything it’d be a stranger in the park after dark, or out the back alley of the local shops.
I wonder when this gets aired on TV, as I’m guessing teens don’t watch free-to-air anymore, what with the brilliance of internet. Unless it gets played at the start of every Youtube video [God forbid], the message will fall on nobody’s ears.
Aww, okay, I’ll stop picking on it now. I guess they’re trying something at least, even if it is a pitiful effort.

Doc Dogg said :

…

Of course we still got drunk and tried to score drunk chicks, but I do remember thinking about how much I was drinking and whether I could actually preform if I actually did get a chick in bed. It wasn’t until I moved towns that I went to parties that people would drink until they were unconscious. I even went to one where a girl drank so much she passed out behind a shed and some guys thought it would be funny to wee on her…and worse. That’s a story I’ll be telling my kids when they are old enough to start going out to parties.

Mmmm…I hope the message to boys is ‘peeing on women is never acceptable’, and if the ‘worse’ was sexual assault, that they should attempt to intervene if such a crime is taking place? And that only really weak men would think otherwise?

And if it’s a girl, that she is never to blame if some horrible item rapes her, even if she’s paralytic drunk in a public place? Or will the message be you must be eternally vigilant, or the consequences are all of your own making?

I’m just not sure what you mean by telling that story.

Holden Caulfield said :

I know when I was a boy I was fortunate enough to enjoy plenty of harmless underage drinking fun. No violence, no regretful sex, just a few chunders here and there.

Is there such a thing as regretful sex when you are a teenage boy?

I always thought the approach that the local police took when I was a young lad worked well. If they saw you out on the weekend, hanging out in a park or whatever. They would sit down with you and tell you stories about the accidents they had seen involving young drunk kids. Stuff like how horrible it was comforting a 15yo girl who had just been hit by a car because she tripped running across the road drunk. Just having them sit there talking WITH you and not AT you made you feel like they were giving you some respect, so you listened to what they had to say.

Of course we still got drunk and tried to score drunk chicks, but I do remember thinking about how much I was drinking and whether I could actually preform if I actually did get a chick in bed. It wasn’t until I moved towns that I went to parties that people would drink until they were unconscious. I even went to one where a girl drank so much she passed out behind a shed and some guys thought it would be funny to wee on her…and worse. That’s a story I’ll be telling my kids when they are old enough to start going out to parties.

Tooks said :

HardBallGets said :

So underage drinking is a crime that Police arrest young people for, ensuring they have a criminal record forever?

Really?

Odd message from the fun-stoppers really, because I thought they’ve just sunk a whole heap of cash in to diversion initiatives (EIPP & Youth Sobering Up Shelter) to ensure that young people who have consumed alcohol don’t end up in the justice system.

Oh well if there’s a police advert that says they arrest young drinkers and give them criminal records, then that is what they must be doing.

Maybe you should watch it again. WIth your eyes open this time. They never said you’d get a criminal record. It said a permanent record. If you think your interactions with police aren’t permanently recorded, you’re very naiive.

Drunk teens don’t go through the justice system unless they’ve committed an offence. They usually get punted home to their embarrassed parents or failing that, the drunk tank.

As for the ad itself, I think it’s lame, but it’s very hard to make such an ad that will actually have any effect on a teenager. I’d give them points for trying something different, and it was obviously meant to be humorous, but teens will think that is very very lame and I doubt it will have any effect whatsoever. This is the kind of education that should begin at home.

So drunk teens go into a drunk tank presumably because they are a danger to themselves, why then, don’t drunk drivers go into a drunk tank for the opposite reason?

HardBallGets said :

So underage drinking is a crime that Police arrest young people for, ensuring they have a criminal record forever?

Really?

Odd message from the fun-stoppers really, because I thought they’ve just sunk a whole heap of cash in to diversion initiatives (EIPP & Youth Sobering Up Shelter) to ensure that young people who have consumed alcohol don’t end up in the justice system.

Oh well if there’s a police advert that says they arrest young drinkers and give them criminal records, then that is what they must be doing.

Maybe you should watch it again. WIth your eyes open this time. They never said you’d get a criminal record. It said a permanent record. If you think your interactions with police aren’t permanently recorded, you’re very naiive.

Drunk teens don’t go through the justice system unless they’ve committed an offence. They usually get punted home to their embarrassed parents or failing that, the drunk tank.

As for the ad itself, I think it’s lame, but it’s very hard to make such an ad that will actually have any effect on a teenager. I’d give them points for trying something different, and it was obviously meant to be humorous, but teens will think that is very very lame and I doubt it will have any effect whatsoever. This is the kind of education that should begin at home.

Ben_Dover said :

A new low in lame.

I’d nail the hostess though.

You’d have to get her drunk first. It’s the hipster way, apparently.

HardBallGets said :

So underage drinking is a crime that Police arrest young people for, ensuring they have a criminal record forever? Really?

To be fair, they only say permanent record. But if a juvenile kills someone, we can’t identify them.
So to avoid being shamed, ensure you klll someone if you’re an underage drinker ?

harley said :

harley said :

you old fogeys have to remember for a girl of 16, “for life” is the next 2 weeks. Remember the target audience people. These are girls that will “literally die of shame” if they hook up with a guy with glasses and a weird eyebrow.

Literally?

See those quotey marks? They mean I’m quoting. You ask any 14 – 18 year old girl that question, that’s what they will answer.

Yep. Blame the Yanks.

A new low in lame.

I’d nail the hostess though.

harley said :

you old fogeys have to remember for a girl of 16, “for life” is the next 2 weeks. Remember the target audience people. These are girls that will “literally die of shame” if they hook up with a guy with glasses and a weird eyebrow.

Literally?

See those quotey marks? They mean I’m quoting. You ask any 14 – 18 year old girl that question, that’s what they will answer.

The slimeball with the mic has to be a worse hook up than the Bad Hook Up, who looks a bit like Booger from Revenge of the Nerds.

Sort of reminds me of the ads country television used to make back in the day. Lame, underfunded, not troubled by research, demographics, a script or even thematic relevance.

It’s kind of sweet in a naive 1960s sort of a way

Barcham said :

…Anyways as for your question about what they could have done to reach a young me?

Very little. Health warnings tend to bounce off the immortal young, shaking your fingers at me would have only increased the appeal of rebelling, and clumsy attempts to appeal to me (like the above video) would have felt equal parts patronising and hilarious. I don’t envy the people whose jobs are to make videos like this, and I may not have the answers to this problem, but I can tell you that obvious videos like this would have felt like they were insulting my intelligence, and I would not have liked that one bit…

Still, now that I’m old enough for everyone to approve of my bad drinking habits, I can safely laugh at this.

Yeah, that probably applies to most kids in the target age group, whatever the decade. Teenage rebellion and all that.

Damned if they do, damned if they don’t I guess.

I know when I was a boy I was fortunate enough to enjoy plenty of harmless underage drinking fun. No violence, no regretful sex, just a few chunders here and there.

As JB said, more often than not underage drinking is not the worst thing a kiddie can do.

I hope someone gets fired for this. Regardless of the difficulties involved in attracting serious attention from young people, this effort is utter crap. Are the 9 boxes all horrible nightmarish outcomes? Because for every bad experience I’ve had with alcohol I can count two good ones. Where’s the “You came home and ended up watching American Idol on the couch and even though you hate the show you had a great time swearing at the idiots on the telly”

I suspect they might have been hoping for a “So bad it’s good” viral reaction, but it’s too long and takes itself too seriously for that. I’m particularly disgusted at the bullshit about getting a permanent record, I can’t believe it’s true in a city where juvenile burglars and violent offenders routinely have their records suppressed that a charge like underage drinking would follow someone for the rest of their life.

They really flatter the AFP, too, with that gimp in the cop uniform menacing the camera (by extension young drunk girls), which is sad because I thought our local cops had more tact than the thugs up in Sydney.

Poetix already highlighted the patronising approach the video has towards young ladies, I think all that’s left to say is that the concept of this video and the campaign behind it is a huge, stinking load.

bundah said :

It’s this type of absolute genius that makes me so proud to be a Canberran!

How canberran…

I sure as hell set myself up for that one,not that i’ve got anything against How Canberran 🙂

I thought it was good. Not necessarily productive, but good.

as for “ruining your reputation for life”

you old fogeys have to remember for a girl of 16, “for life” is the next 2 weeks. Remember the target audience people. These are girls that will “literally die of shame” if they hook up with a guy with glasses and a weird eyebrow.

gentoopenguin said :

“You hook up with this guy and ruin your reputation for life”

Happy International Womens Day, everyone!

And if you acquire a stalker it’s your own fault from being drunk! And ladies, while we are on the topic, you really should try harder not to get sexually assaulted, because you know, that is something which is your responsibility too!

How on earth did they ever think that this video was ok?

johnboy said :

I think I prefer the hipster to the game show hosts.

indeed, with his wandering hands… Don’t put your arm around the 16yo girl, sleazy gameshow host, and she isn’t even drunk. (Surely there’s a message there too?)

You have to hope that this ad is deliberately tongue in cheek, intended to make young people (men and women) discuss the issue, while rejecting many of the stereotypes in it.

The alternative is really quite worrying.

IP

It’s this type of absolute genius that makes me so proud to be a Canberran!

Judging by the amount of absolutely stunning girls I see walk down these halls, and then walk back again holding a box of valtrex or azithromycin makes me think that Sarah would be better off with old mate there. That said, why isn’t “drank some alcohol with your girlfriends, have a bit of a giggle and return home safely” an option? That’s what usually happens.

Holden Caulfield said :

johnboy said :

I think I prefer the hipster to the game show hosts.

Yes, the host is very sleazy looking.

Barcham, a serious question for you, what could ACT Policing have done to make you take notice while you were in your black eyeliner phase?

I get that it’s very easy to laugh at the honest attempt of ACT Policing to be relevant or appeal to kids, but, really, what’s the best way for adults with adult concerns to try and educate/warn kids who think they want to be like adults?

/old fart

IB4poetix: “I think he loos like a nice young man” tee hee, I missed the vision of the hipster’s toilet habits.

Dammit, I thought I’d edited out that loos!

Anyways as for your question about what they could have done to reach a young me?

Very little. Health warnings tend to bounce off the immortal young, shaking your fingers at me would have only increased the appeal of rebelling, and clumsy attempts to appeal to me (like the above video) would have felt equal parts patronising and hilarious. I don’t envy the people whose jobs are to make videos like this, and I may not have the answers to this problem, but I can tell you that obvious videos like this would have felt like they were insulting my intelligence, and I would not have liked that one bit…

Still, now that I’m old enough for everyone to approve of my bad drinking habits, I can safely laugh at this.

“You hook up with this guy and ruin your reputation for life”

Happy International Womens Day, everyone!

So what night spot are they off to at 16? Do they have blue light discos these days?

poetix said :

The suspected hipster looks harmless enough. I think it’s implied that he might be an intellectual or something. Just imagine if Sarah from Belconnen slept with someone who read books! Her precious reputation would take a pounding, and remember girls, your reputation is the Most Important Thing You Have. You must try and be normal at all times, and be overly sensitive about what judgmental morons might say about you.

Teaching girls self-respect through recycling 1950s values. Great thing to watch on International Women’s Day too.

Wow, I think you might be reading a wee bit much into that. If they were going for intellectual they missed it by a country mile.
The whole point as I saw it was that he was meant to be ugly, weird and likely to be a future stalker.

ps. Can’t we all just agree that hipsters deserve to be laughed at?

Holden Caulfield said :

Damn, I wasn’t IB4poetix, haha.

But I didn’t mention loos, so you are first!

I was actually angry about this thing, and now realise I repeated much of what Bracken said. He said it quite well, too.

So underage drinking is a crime that Police arrest young people for, ensuring they have a criminal record forever?

Really?

Odd message from the fun-stoppers really, because I thought they’ve just sunk a whole heap of cash in to diversion initiatives (EIPP & Youth Sobering Up Shelter) to ensure that young people who have consumed alcohol don’t end up in the justice system.

Oh well if there’s a police advert that says they arrest young drinkers and give them criminal records, then that is what they must be doing.

Damn, I wasn’t IB4poetix, haha.

johnboy said :

I think I prefer the hipster to the game show hosts.

Yes, the host is very sleazy looking.

Barcham, a serious question for you, what could ACT Policing have done to make you take notice while you were in your black eyeliner phase?

I get that it’s very easy to laugh at the honest attempt of ACT Policing to be relevant or appeal to kids, but, really, what’s the best way for adults with adult concerns to try and educate/warn kids who think they want to be like adults?

/old fart

IB4poetix: “I think he loos like a nice young man” tee hee, I missed the vision of the hipster’s toilet habits.

The suspected hipster looks harmless enough. I think it’s implied that he might be an intellectual or something. Just imagine if Sarah from Belconnen slept with someone who read books! Her precious reputation would take a pounding, and remember girls, your reputation is the Most Important Thing You Have. You must try and be normal at all times, and be overly sensitive about what judgmental morons might say about you.

Teaching girls self-respect through recycling 1950s values. Great thing to watch on International Women’s Day too.

That’s enough to drive you to drink.

I think I prefer the hipster to the game show hosts.