Want a drink?

So, what do you think? Is this ad for not drinking to prevent Fetal Alcohol Syndrome effective, or does it backfire?

22 Comments

Bad Cat!

about 14 years ago

That ad bothers me. It's not cured, it's prevented - two totally different things.

Nate

about 14 years ago

Also, I don't think people who drink while they're pregnant have the comprehension skills to understand what they're saying here.

"OH! I need to be drinking *wine*. MY BAD."

Brett K Molitor

about 14 years ago

Fetal alcohol syndrome. Prevented.

Diabetes. Perpetuated.

doubledutch

about 14 years ago

I really hate this whole ad campaign.  Does this mean no woman should drink if she could possibly be pregnant?  Like, if she's had sex any time in the recent past - because birth control fails all the time, see my gravatar for evidence.  I guess if we never drank, then maybe we'd be less likely to get pregnant because we'd be having less sex, I don't know.  But the fact of the matter is, I think any damage from drinking while pregnant normally happens *before* the mother knew she was pregnant - or she wouldn't have been getting wasted.

The other thing that's stupid about this (besides that fact that, yeah, curing and preventing are two completely different concepts!) is the message that no pregnant woman should ever have a drop of alcohol.  Moderation is a beautiful thing.

And the coke right next to it?  Ugh!  I had some dude at Barnes & Noble scold me about caffeine while pregnant/breastfeeding (I had baby#1 in a sling).  I said, "Listen bitch, I'm pregnant *and* breastfeeding, and I really need that latte to be a functional parent right  now."  Okay, I didn't actually call him a bitch.  But I wanted to.

Prof. Cricket

about 14 years ago

I've seen and worked with FAS children and adults and it is an awful condition, which includes mental retardation and other cognitive dysfunctions that could be totally prevented. BUT this ad is NOT effective. This ad has an attractive bottle and it looks like the viewer should give up something glamorous. FAS is anything but glamorous. I think it should show some beer, whiskey, icky cups and the face of a FAS child.

Barrett Chase

about 14 years ago

There used to be an ad on the DTA that was simply black text on a white background and said, "Drinking alcohol when you're pregnant makes holes in babies' brains."

Barrett Chase

about 14 years ago

I should add, that's not necessarily an exact quote, but it's the quote as I remember it.

girlfromnorthcountry

about 14 years ago

I'm with y'all, the ad is not effective for the majority of the intended audience.  Should also say "Don't do meth when you're pregnant."  Sheesh.  Let's see the prolifers jump on that for a change.

tang!

about 14 years ago

Well... I know the first thought that popped in to my head when I drove past this was... "Skyy Cokes?  Yuk!"  So, yeah... Ad Fail, for sure.

Claire

about 14 years ago

Ad sucks. I agree with Prof Cricket -- don't make it look so glamorous. Show the downside of FAS. Thinking of what FAS is about is what kept me from alcohol for 9 months. Put some faces on that billboard, not a bottle that makes me lust for a drink.

speechie

about 14 years ago

As a teacher I see the results of FAE/FAS on a daily basis. Kids who fight, steal, can't focus, can't process, and can't do anything about it...that is what should be on an ad. How about "Do you want to have to sew your twelve-year-old's pockets shut so s/he can't steal as easily?" or a stats about how many kids with FAE/FAS wind up going straight to jail out of high school... that pretty bottle won't keep anyone from drinking. In fact, it looks delicious! I'm glad someone or some organization is trying to promote awareness, but they need help.

Prof. Cricket

about 14 years ago

Makes me think the company is getting a "twofer." 1) Credit for doing a PSA, 2) while really making people thirsty and wanting a drink. 

They had another ad in the same spot a few months ago with a really pretty martini glass and a slender woman's hand over the glass ... again made a person crave a drink.

zra

about 14 years ago

Tamara drank coffee when she was pregnant with and breastfeeding all three kids. Granted not a lot, perhaps a half a cup a day. I haven't heard of any negative impact because of it.

Come to think of it, that may just explain Walter's love for the stuff.

Beverly

about 14 years ago

Since I first saw them, I have thought these ads are ineffective simply because they're too hard to understand. The image of a drink overpowers the secondary message that it's corked or turned upside-down or whatever.

RS

about 14 years ago

@ Doubledutch: When my sis was preggo with her firstborn she stayed as far away from caffiene as she could (ate as healthy as she could).  By the time she was preggo with my niece she said "The heck with it!" and ate/drank whatever she wanted, except booze of course.  10 years or so later my nephew, the firstborn, seemed to get more hyper off a can of pop or sugar-filled things than his sister did.  Wierd huh?

vicarious

about 14 years ago

My mom drank coffee and booze and smoked Camel Straights when she was pregnant with me and I'm perfectly normalzzzerngrreffen glopper glop.

W.T.F

about 14 years ago

I work with the fall out of fetal alcohol syndrome everyday (in others, not me, I think). A real buss kill. Now a little levity: "Beer is proof there is a God and he wants us to be happy." Ben Franklin

"Liquor is proof that God wants ugly people to have sex also." Some ugly drunk dude trying to get laid.

Paul Lundgren

about 14 years ago

(in others, not me, I think)

!

W.T.F

about 14 years ago

Paul let me clarify, (in others, not me, I think) The sentence without the parentheses could imply that I personally am laboring under the effects of FAS. Where as with the parentheses it hopefully means that I work with a population of people who suffer from a wide range of FAS, no joke, no laughing matter. Since there are over 250 known individual effects within the FAS spectrum that can be present in varying degrees you or I could be laboring under anyone of these without ever knowing it. Hence the "I think)

W.T.F

about 14 years ago

@ Paul 
PS: thanks for taking my stuff out of context, just like a real journalist would.

Paul Lundgren

about 14 years ago

I take it all back.

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