Unsophisticated drinking moments from the internet will be brought to life across the country through a series of augmented reality displays in bars and city centres — in a hi-tech bid to stop young adults getting too sozzled this Christmas.
As silly season begins, Melbourne will be the first Aussie city to be hit by the DrinkWise campaign called “The Internet Remembers”.
Starting today, the city will install Internet Remembers statues with augmented reality displays across the city.
Later this month, 125 bars across the country will place barcodes on beer mats and posters which will show smartphone users to view an embarrassing reveller’s moment.
When you hold a smartphone camera up to the displays — the moments will automatically appear.
The push to change drinking habits comes off the back of new DrinkWise statistics which show young adults are still drinking most excessively out of every other age group in Australia.
The data shows they are consuming five or more standard drinks on a night out (21 per cent), compared to 16 per cent of all other age groups.
The social change organisation says this is way too high, but it’s not all bad news — as the number of young adults engaging in this behaviour has dropped from 31 per cent just two years ago.
“The fact that young adults see vomiting and making a fool of themselves as a greater risk from excessive drinking than their long-term health means we need to take an innovative approach to our moderation message,” DrinkWise CEO, Simon Strahan said in a statement.
“We’re very aware of the importance of social media to young adults and the time they spend curating their profiles online, all of which can be destroyed from too many drinks and an embarrassing moment, which once on the internet, will be around long after the hangover is gone.”
The news statistics show it’s young male adults who are driving up the average for their age group.
One in four admitted to drinking in excess on a night out while one in five young female adults did the same.
When asked about their attitudes towards drinking, the most common themes that were significantly higher when compared to the general drinking population included:
“I sometimes drink until I’m drunk” — 49 per cent in males and 27 per cent in females
“There are times I’ve drunk more than what I’ve really wanted to try because I was keeping up with others around me” (44 per cent in males and 36 per cent in females).
Additionally, almost half of 18-24 year olds (44 per cent) sometimes regret what they have done when drinking, with some of the biggest concerns being the risk of vomiting (26 per cent), making a fool of themselves (24 per cent) and drunk texting or social media posting (14 per cent).
To launch the campaign in Melbourne, Internet Remembers statues will feature in AR in the following locations:
Thursday: Southbank Spillway and Federation Square, 4-8pm
Friday: Acland Street, St Kilda and Federation Square, 4-8pm
Saturday: Acland Street, St Kilda and Federation Square, 4-8pm
For more information about DrinkWise or The Internet Remembers campaign, visit: www.drinkwise.org.