Campus Life

LessThanUThink Campaign Against Binge Drinking Launches On Texas A&M Campus

February 13, 2018

Student-leadership-team

By Elena Watts, Texas A&M University Marketing & Communications

Binge drinking is the consumption of four to five standard drinks in a two-hour period. LessThanUThink (LTUT), a campaign that uses humor to combat binge drinking on college campuses, recently launched at Texas A&M University for the month of February.

“Binge drinking is a national issue that is pervasive across all university cultures, and we wanted to raise awareness about the social and physical consequences of risky alcohol behaviors on our campus,” said Marigold Hudock, health promotion specialist for the Offices of the Dean of Student Life.

The campaign is based on a study conducted by advertising students at the University of Alabama who determined that college students connect well with messages that use humor to convey the dangers of binge drinking and reject messages that use scare tactics.

The goals of the campaign are to raise awareness about the undesired results, situations and consequences associated with over-consumption of alcohol among students and increase the number of students at universities who consider monitoring their drinking habits because they associate that over-consumption with negative social and physical consequences.

In addition to sharing messages around campus, a team of Texas A&M students led by Khiem Pham, a senior industrial distribution major, is organizing five events during the remainder of the month to start conversations about the nationwide issue:

Wednesday, Feb. 14

  • Cupid’s Calories, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 12th Man Hall in the MSC
  • Learn how many calories are in popular drinks and take home complimentary Valentine’s Day gifts

Tuesday, Feb. 20

  • Karaoke Night!, 8 p.m. to midnight, O’Bannon’s Taphouse
  • Sing along to song favorites and pick up free LTUT swag

Pour-Your-Own-Drink

Thursday, Feb. 22

  • Pour Your Own Drink, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Rudder Plaza
  • Test standard drink-pouring knowledge and win prizes

Monday, Feb. 26

  • Coffee at Rudder Plaza, 8 to 11 a.m., Rudder Plaza
  • Perk up with free coffee

Wednesday, Feb. 28

  • Spring Break Bash, 3 to 5 p.m., Rudder Plaza
  • End the campaign with fun and games, and many prizes

The LTUT campaign was established by the student advertising team at the University of Alabama as a result of the 2009 National Student Advertising Competition sponsored by the American Advertising Federation. The student teams were challenged by the Century Council, now the Foundation of Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (FAAR), to create integrated communications campaigns to combat binge drinking on college campuses.

The Alabama students first put their findings into practice at the University of Alabama with a $75,000 FAAR grant used to launch a six-week campaign reflecting the embarrassing consequences of over-consumption of alcohol. Since then, the campaign has spread to more than 11 U.S. and two Argentinian college campuses.

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Media contact: Marigold Hudock at 979-845-0280 or mhudock@studentlife.tamu.edu; or Elena Watts at 979-458-8412 or elenaw@tamu.edu.

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