Comments on: Graphic new ads show consequences of binge drinking

By: Lifu

Lifu — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:11:52 +0000

I think it is important that you also need to target the audience who intends to get drunk and is fully aware of their consequence of their actions. I was watching the television program 60 Minutes, where they were talking about womens who were aware of their actions and do not care about it, they simply want to drink a LOT.

By: thehairyarmpit

thehairyarmpit — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:53:43 +0000

And another thing ALAC - Why don’t you try doing something different? There are plenty of women getting drunk, getting into fights and verbally abusing the police. There are also the men and women who get drunk and cheat on their partners and feel guilty about it the next day. I’m not taking any notice of these advertisements any more because you are just using shock tactics to try and scare people away from drinking. These methods never work. What people need is education and support if they have a drinking problem.

By: thehairyarmpit

thehairyarmpit — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:47:50 +0000

I just noticed in a women’s magazine another advertisement from ALAC depicting a women with a hangover, lying on her bed in her underpants with a wine glass over her body and a small child standing in the doorway. I would really like to know who is making these advertisements because it seems that every one ALAC churns out that depicts women’s problem drinking has some kind of sexual connotation and I find it disturbing and deeply offensive. How dare you ALAC!

By: michele

michele — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 02:47:52 +0000

I have two daughters - what do I tell them? It’s a womens right to get drunk and reclaim the night girls - don’t live in fear? Very noble and rational.
Real life is anything but noble and rational. I love them and want to protect them - the message is therefore - don’t let booze dull your judgement so you don’t notice when you are in danger. Why would any mother not tell her daughter that? Good on you ALAC for having the courage to to tell it like it is - not how we wish it was.

By: Lita

Lita — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 23:56:32 +0000

I agree entirely with Joanna’s point. The ad implies Lisa is to blame for her assault. It should be taken off air.

By: Julie Fairey

Julie Fairey — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:58:41 +0000

Eva, if these ads make many women who have been victims of sexual assault feel to blame for the attack they suffered, does that not concern you?

By: Eva M

Eva M — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:56:36 +0000

I have to agree with Freddy here. The ad does not insinuate that ‘Lisa’ is to blame. I would suggest that the ad is trying to:

Create impact and raise awareness of the effects of binge drinking.

If these ads make just one person think about their own drinking or the drinking of their friends then they are on track.

Unfortunately in this day and age for every drunk woman their is usually a drunk man ready to prey. I have supported my friends through the shame, guilt and the pain of these incidents.

The ads are not saying that Lisa is asking to be raped. They are saying “If this looks like you - think about it - it is not safe to be this drunk.

By: Felix

Felix — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:30:55 +0000

Jenny,

When you say your cousin might not have been raped if she were more sober you are making a huge assumption about the rapist - that he is willing to rape a drunk woman but not a sober or less-drunk one.

The “dangerous world” you describe seems to be one in which ordinary men suddenly become rapists when presented with a drunk woman - rather than one populated by women, men, and men who rape.

By: Ms Poinsettia

Ms Poinsettia — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:33:06 +0000

I think an important point is the context of the Lisa ad. It is part of a series in which the other two characters are clearly responsible for harming themselves and others. But Lisa is not responsible for being raped. If this ad was part of a series that showed how alcohol made people vulnerable to a variety of attacks I wouldn’t have such a problem with it. But instead this series of ads is clearly about how drinking to excess *causes* harmful behaviour. Myths about drunk women being (partially) responsible for getting raped are false, harmful, and part of the reason women don’t want to report or press charges for rape.

By: Megan

Megan — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:13:04 +0000

Wow, Jenny, that’s….well, a bit harsh don’t you think? Your 16 year old cousin may have “known how to get out of the situation” were she sober, but what you don’t seem to understand is that she didn’t put herself in that situation. Her rapist did. She wasn’t raped because she was drunk, she was raped because she was near a rapist.

But I don’t know why I am bothering to try and convince you, because you are never going to believe me. Our country’s young women need to take responsibility and stop getting trolleyed, but god forbid a rapist take responsibility for what he’s done.

I hope your cousin is ok, and she has better support than you around her. People that won’t blame her for the indescribably horrible thing that happened to her.