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Pernod Ricard Targets Underage Drinking |
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Tuesday, 15 July 2008 |
 In a bold move to make its alcohol education campaign a highly visible part of contemporary culture, Pernod Ricard USA, a unit of the world's second-largest wine and spirits company, is devoting a full-page ad in the Feb. 12 Swimsuit Edition of Sports Illustrated to help combat underage drinking.
This edition of SI reaches an estimated 69 million readers, with many likely to have children under age 21. Pernod Ricard USA executives are confident their message will stand out in sharp contrast among the close to 100 ads in the edition, many of which promote beer, wine and spirits products.
"We could not think of a better platform for our message...one in which our message would be so seemingly out of place, so disruptive, that readers couldn't help but notice it," says Dave Warren, co-founder of Fly Communications (New York), which created the campaign.
The hard-hitting ad, which is the only one of its kind,, according to the company, addresses parents who make excuses to justify drinking by their underage children. The ad encourages parents to accept responsibility for controlling what they know is potentially harmful behavior by their children, instead of making such excuses as: "We drank when we were that young and we turned out OK."
"Apart from the rich demographics of SI's regular readers, an ad in the Swimsuit Edition has the additional benefits of incredible pass-along readership and perhaps the longest shelf-life of any lifestyle weekly, all of which greatly increases cumulative exposure for the message," says Angelo Vassallo, vice president, marketing services, Pernod Ricard USA.
The ad is part of an integrated responsibility campaign funded by PRUSA that focuses on three critical issues: drunk driving, underage drinking and binge drinking. The effort centers on a dedicated website (AcceptResponsibility.org) that provides highly-credible, third-party information about these issues. The campaign is supported by ads in national newspapers and magazines, on-line banner ads, television public service announcements and publicity.
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