144 hours is the time that more than one million young Spanish people dedicate to alcohol consumption in summer. In a real experiment, a young man has spent the same time learning to surf from scratch.
The campaign 'The time you dedicate to alcohol, you take it away from everything else', designed by the Shackleton agency, aims to raise awareness and encourage reflection on alcohol consumption in summer. It is specifically aimed at adolescents and young people and tries to make clear the amount of time they spend in summer in leisure forms in which alcohol has a predominant presence.
On the day of presentation of this campaign, the general director of the Foundation of Help against Drug Addiction, said that 'drunkenness is the only thing that grows in Spain'. Ignacio Calderón commented, and in this I agree, that alcohol is the drug perceived as less dangerous, despite the degree of affectation that it has on physical and psychic development.
Intensive alcohol consumption (binge drinking) has increased among Spanish youth in recent years. 35.6% of students aged 14 to 18 admit having got drunk in the last month, according to data from the State Survey on Drug Use in Secondary School Students (ESTUDES, 2010).
In 2006, this percentage was 25.6%. There is a higher proportion of consumers among girls compared to boys and there is also a higher percentage of girls than boys who get drunk. However, boys consume alcohol more frequently. Alcohol is the substance that is perceived as less dangerous: less than half of respondents believe that drinking 5 or 6 drinks on the weekend can cause problems. Finally, 66.3% of consumers had drunk in bars or pubs, 64.1% in open spaces and 57.5% in discos, in the last 30 days.
Alcohol, whose age at the beginning of consumption is 13.7 years, also plays a leading role in the polyconsumption, an increasingly frequent pattern among schoolchildren, both in Spain and in other European Union countries. Of every 3 students between 14 and 18, one does not consume, another consumes a single substance and the last consumes two or more substances.
It is intended to show young people that there are many different leisure alternatives - Learning to surf is just one example - to invest that time that is as or more rewarding. And to prove it, a real experiment has been performed. The young protagonist of the campaign, Pablo, has learned to surf from scratch to demonstrate everything that can be done and / or enjoy in the average time that more than one million young Spaniards devote to alcohol consumption in summer.
'The time you dedicate to alcohol you take away from everything else' is the third consecutive campaign that the FAD launches on alcohol consumption following its strategy of dealing primarily with the prevention of problems affecting young people and adolescents by the consumption of psychoactive substances
The web has also been designed, 144 hours where you can see the full video of Pablo's experiment and the physical change he has experienced during his experience. In the home of 144horas.com the question is asked: How many hours do you spend drinking alcohol in a summer week? So that anyone who visits the web and enters the number of hours can check how far he would have come if he had made Paul's experience.
The campaign will remain active for at least four months, being disseminated free of charge by the vast majority of Spanish media at national, regional and local level. Many messages close to young people are necessary, since on the other hand they are receiving images in which society shows them how success is associated with alcohol consumption, offering them a completely distorted image.
