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Articles / “Tonight, I’ll vomit at your place”:

“Tonight, I’ll vomit at your place”

Not the kind of opening phrase you’d want to try when seducing that astonishing blond(e) you just met. But a concept interesting enough to catch attention: the home-made video by Antoine de Minimy – a parody on an existing French travel series “Tonight I’ll stay at your place” – attracted over 10 000 viewers over several websites. In a humorous report, Antoine shows how to get wasted for free and end up…well, let’s say the title gives a good hint:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9rzhk_jirai-vomir-chez-vous_fun

Inspired from the truth?
The video is a good laugh, although we might not all want to remember that we’ve been there, at least once – losing half of our intestines barfing in a toilet after a drunken night. Is the phenomenon that unusual? Not really. Is alcohol consumption getting more and more out of hand? It does when in comes to youngsters, according to the French and British governments. Both of them have started intensive campaigns against alcohol abuse over the last year, aiming youngsters. Today, Paris is even launching a horror-movie competition to fight binge drinking.

Binge what?
The concept is fairly easy: drink as much alcohol as you can in the smallest lapse of time and get intoxicated. It is a kind of purposeful drinking style that overlaps somewhat with social drinking since it is often done in groups. So, when can you consider yourself a Binge Drinker? There is no world wide consensus on how many drinks constitute a "Binge", but the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) definition is the one mostly used: consuming five or more standard drinks (male), or four or more drinks (female), in about two hours for a typical adult. This is called the ‘5/4 definition’…do you see that toilet coming yet?

Beware of the Vodka Belt
In Europe, it is generally perceived that binge drinking is most prevalent in the Vodka Belt (Northern and Eastern Europe) and least common in the southern part of the continent, in Italy, France, and the Mediterranean (the Wine Belt). A notable exception to the lower rates in Southern Europe is the island of Malta, which has adopted the British ‘binge drinking’ culture. 50% of Maltese 15-16 year olds report binge drinking. British 15-16 year olds binge drink at a rate of 54%, the third highest in Europe. Denmark currently takes the lead with 60% of 15-16 year olds reporting participating in this behaviour, and Turkey is the lowest in Europe at 15%. Currently, there appears to be some convergence of drinking patterns and styles between the northern and southern countries, with the south beginning to drink more like the north (which is more imaginable than the other way around). Bad news for a French government, wanting to set the example on youth policy…so it saw itself obliged to lash back at the problem.

How shocking!
Since 2008, French TV has been the arena of shock campaigns to get youngsters attention concerning the risks of alcohol. The message? Make us understand how disastrous a binge-feast might end. You thought barfing in the toilet looks bad? This horrific scenario, thought of for the French anti-alcohol campaign in 2008 puts it all in perspective :

http://videos.tf1.fr/infos/2008/spot-gouvernemental-anti-alcool-4381156.html

Horrific Zombeer
Today, Paris takes it up a notch: a mini-horror movie competition launched last November as part of a campaign destined to the young. Youngsters were invited to send in horror-style movies of up to five minutes that illustrate the damage that can result from guzzling large amounts of alcohol at great speed.
www.thebinge-lefilm.com warns that binge-drinking can lead to comas, serious accidents and physical and sexual violence. The website shows a youngster turning into a bloodthirsty zombie after knocking back a bottle of liquor with friends in the park at the foot of Notre Dame cathedral. A campaign with a real ‘shock and awe’ approach.

The Gentleman Approach
The British, however, have chosen a more delicate way of passing on the message. As the 3rd biggest European binge drinking country, and with a cultural history on the matter, Britain finds a different way to talk to it’s youth. Last summer England released an ad campaign which struck a chord. The government released a series of short videos, targeted at 18- to 24-year-olds, that underscore the ugly side of alcohol. They contain no statistics, no direct doctor warnings and no information about the long-term, adverse effects of binge drinking. Instead, they are silent and short, and pretty funny. Want to see embarrassment? Check it out here:

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7825465
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7825387

Is there a better way to bring across a tough message, and warn a young public without patronising them? Maybe. After all, those shocking images and hard info might just make you feel you need a drink. But just remember: be careful, that toilet-scene is never that far away…