“Underage drinking is reaching alarming levels with South African children drinking from as young as 10 years of age – and this is an issue that is prevalent across the board in South Africa. Our country is the sixth-largest consumer of alcohol in the world," says Ingrid Louw, CEO of Aware.org.
“To tackle this problem, we need to start the conversation earlier and encourage every single person in South Africa to realise that they have a role to play. We believe this will ultimately see real impact on the ground. Past campaigns, which used shock tactics and sought to wag the finger at people, have not been effective,” adds Louw.
With Kabelo Mabalane as its ambassador, the national harm reduction campaign is informed by evidence-based in-depth research. The campaign is underpinned by the message ‘Underage drinking starts long before it begins. You can stop it,’ which is built on the insight that many people’s first exposure to alcohol is usually at a young age and is generally enabled by parents and/or other caregivers.
Proud to announce a campaign close to my heart. It encourages us to stop and think about how we interact with alcohol when minors are around because under age drinking starts long before it begins. #myfirstdrinkstory pic.twitter.com/xEcD710f44
— Kabelo Mabalane (@KabeloMabalane) 29 August 2019
This enablement can be explicit or subtle, ranging from a widespread culture of drinking for all occasions, acknowledging the coming of age, allowing “child sipping” at home, to just ignoring it when underage drinking happens.
Aware.org has brought this to life through an integrated campaign championed by radio and television adverts crafted to challenge all South Africans to re-examine the role that they play in the choices that children make.
A series of scenes and experiences are captured where children, caught in various situations, are introduced to their first alcoholic drink in what is shown to be a pervasive culture of drinking in the South African context. In each scene, the catalyst is an older relative such as a parent or older sibling who either directly encourages or, in a more subtle way, enables the first drink.
In addition to television and radio commercials, the campaign will be rolled out on billboards, print media and social media – keeping the conversation going by encouraging all South Africans to share their stories under the hashtag #MyFirstDrinksStory.
