Social change organisation DrinkWise in partnership with creative agency The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song, highlighted the integral role parents play in protecting teenagers from the risks associated with underage drinking.
The mid-November campaign, entitled It's ok to say nay was directed by Tony Rogers at Guilty, and highlights the decision many parents face when talking to their teens about alcohol.
The campaign is live across television, social, radio and online.
Michael Derepas, chief strategy officer at The Monkeys: “The goal was to remind parents they should not be supplying their underage teens alcohol – either at home or for / at parties – and to help them have a conversation with their kids about the reasons why they are taking that stance.
“Underage drinking has significantly declined over the past fifteen years," he said. "However, of those who do drink, parents as the source of supply of that alcohol has actually increased from 25% in 2010 to 41.6% in 2019 and we know this can lead to some riskier alcohol-related behaviours down the track.
“We wanted to arm parents with the right information when the subject arises, so they can feel confident to say no and comfortable having the conversation with their teenagers.
“Partnering with DrinkWise and The Behavioural Insights Team, we uncovered some compelling social norms, in particular that the overwhelming majority of parents don’t supply their underage teens with alcohol, whereas many parents assumed other parents did. When you have a misperception about other’s behaviour, highlighting the facts via social norms messaging can be an incredibly powerful tool.
“While you can explain the dangers of parental supply and the dangers of underage drinking that in itself is often not enough to change behaviours. There are a myriad of pre-existing beliefs like, “my parents gave me my first drinks and I turned out alright”. But when you see social norms that counter your belief you are more inclined to change your behaviour and align with the actions and opinions of the majority.
“Many parents think they are on their own and may struggle with whether they should supply their underage teens alcohol, but they are not. An overwhelming 87% of parents don’t supply their underage teens alcohol, a fact that has the ability to correct any misperceptions about other parents’ behaviours and nudge more parents towards the norm. Not only giving them the confidence to say no, but arming them with the right information to set boundaries around alcohol.”
Ant Keogh, chief creative officer at The Monkeys: “The hardest part was finding the right tone to relay the norm without it sounding too judgemental or authoritative or just being another message in the world telling us how to behave, which could be subsequently ignored.
“Conscious consideration was the goal. Just like in the first DrinkWise campaign 'Kids absorb your drinking', we wanted to empathise with parents, not judge them. We still wanted to ‘land-the-punch’, but do it in a way that would get them thinking about what they had just seen, then thinking about what they would do when the subject came up.
“The use of ‘Nay’ also gave us some distinctive language to help us cut-through and help people hold onto it and remember.”
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