There are lots of really fun ads for liquor and beer on television nowadays showing everyone having lots of fun all due to the drinking. But partying too much can lead to alcoholism, and that can be very dangerous to one’s health and detrimental to one’s prospects in life. And so to counter all the fun partying imagery once in a while, I think it might be a good idea to show the other side of alcohol indulgence in PSAs, because we are subjected to so much booze advertising that makes drinking look like a non-stop party; but when life becomes non-stop drinking, it’s no longer a party.
So how about an ad that parodies the Bacardi ad where the family lasts forever through all kinds of problems, but this time show how someone who drinks too much can’t handle even the simplest of problems, and so whereas the Bacardi family stays together and prospers, the person who drinks too much of their rum has their family fall apart, and they lose everything. (That happens a lot, and people should know about the dangers before they become alcoholics.) And the slogan would be: Alcoholism: Untenable (<Instead of Bacardi: Untamable).
Then there could be a PSA parodying all the beer ads where guys drinking beer at a bar pick up the girls of their dreams, this time showing how a guy tries to meet a gorgeous girl in a bar, but he’s all slurring his words, etc., and she rolls her eyes and walks away, only for the guy to make a scene because he’s drunk, so he gets thrown out of the bar.
And of course there should be an ad parodying the Capitan Morgan pirate life ads, possibly the greatest liquor ads ever. So in this PSA, the Captain and his crew party a bit too hard and drink a bit too much, and so they all pass out in their pirate ship, which goes adrift, allowing the British Navy to spot and board them. And so they wake up with hangover headaches and blurred vision to find themselves staring up at double-vision versions of the British standing over them, who arrest them all, clap them in irons, and toss them into some dark nasty dungeon to await execution for piracy. And this just goes to show you: you can’t function at full capacity when you’re always sauced. (Oh, and there’s just nothing like combining seasickness with a hangover for the most miserable of experiences, I’ll bet. {Not that I’d know about that one, though.})
These would at least counteract the idea that drinking is always fun and sexy, as well as point out some of the downsides in a fun way that mocks ads everyone is familiar with.
