How a glass baby helped change perceptions of alcohol during pregnancy

The advertising industry is witnessing a significant shift towards social responsibility, with campaigns increasingly focusing on societal and environmental issues. This evolution not only reflects consumers’ changing values but also highlights the industry’s potential to drive meaningful change.

303 MullenLowe Perth’s 2022 Bronze Effie Award Campaign ‘One Drink’, developed by the WA Mental Health Commission in collaboration with Cancer Council WA, features a baby-shaped glass filled with red wine to illustrate that any amount of alcohol a mother drinks, the baby drinks too.

According to a study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 76 percent of survey respondents recalled seeing the campaign, 95 percent of women who saw it intended to abstain from drinking when pregnant, and both males and females were more likely to agree that pregnant women shouldn’t drink any alcohol. One in two people who viewed the campaign also agreed that it contained new health information.

This latest research suggests that potential mothers are likely to stop drinking if they are well informed of the risks.

303 MullenLowe Perth Managing Director René Migliore explains why it was so successful in changing behaviour: “By using familiar visual cues – a wine bottle, a wine glass and the visual of a baby in utero – and and combining them in a very unfamiliar way, the campaign jolted expectations. The glass baby became a powerful visual representation of a simple truth: ‘Any amount a mother drinks, the baby drinks’. The combination of a memorable visual cue with messaging specifically developed to drive behaviour change is one of the reasons the campaign resonated so broadly, while changing the way both men and women view alcohol and pregnancy.”

Credit:

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.

Report 15: 2023-24 | 15 May 2024 Office of Auditor General, Performance Audit, Government Campaign Advertising.