“You think U won’t challenge Shaq to a dunk contest… and you wouldn’t have four drinks ago.”
This catchphrase is imprinted on a T-shirt former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal wears in a clip from the public service announcement with the LessThanUThink campaign.
The PSA, directed by University of Alabama students, will be unveiled at a red carpet event at Innisfree Irish Pub and Grill Thursday, Oct. 18 from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.
The premiere will feature a Hollywood-style red carpet and life-sized Shaq cutout so attendees can get their pictures taken next to the 7-foot-tall basketball player. There will also be prize drawings and free merchandise giveaways leading up to the launch of the PSA at 10:18 p.m.
Throughout the week, LTUT has hosted various events to get students talking. They set up activities such as Frisbees on the Quad, Trivia Night at the Houndstooth and “Happy Hour at the Rec,” a dunk contest with an information table explaining the amount of exercise needed to burn off calories from different alcoholic drinks.
LTUT is an award-winning campaign led by UA students designed to address binge drinking among college-age students. The statewide campaign was first released on Alabama’s campus in fall of 2010. UA public relations and advertising students have worked with the Student Health Center Department of Health Promotion and Wellness as well as the Capstone Agency, a student public relations firm, to make the campaign successful.
“The part that stands out the most about their campaign are the posters they put around campus, and the University’s support for it,” Sam Osier, a senior majoring in advertising, said.
That it takes “LessThanUThink” to have fun without the overconsumption of alcohol is one of the many slogans with serious messages used to inform students of the social and physical consequences of binge drinking in hopes they will change unhealthy drinking habits.
“Almost everyone I know binge drinks,” Osier said. “I think it’s a serious problem, but students don’t really take it seriously until it affects them.”
According to a report by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health found on the Century Council website, 40 percent of today’s college students engage in binge drinking. One in seven students report having more than 10 drinks in a row, which can be dangerous and even lethal.
Shaq united with the Century Council in their efforts to put a stop to college-age binge drinking. The Century Council is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1991 by alcohol distillers who aid in combating the issues of underage drinking, as well as drunken driving.
When the members of LTUT discovered Shaq’s partnership with the Century Council, one of their primary funding organizations, Yvonne Tauton, director of media relations for LTUT, said they became determined to get him to the University to help with the campaign.
“It is a challenge to get students to engage in the conversation about the issue of anti-binge drinking,” Tauton saiD. “By bringing a celebrity with the recognition of Shaq into the communications, it will help us grab attention. Hopefully, students will see the message and forward it to their friends.”
The PSA has taken six months to complete, along with a lot of planning and preparation, Tauton said.
“On the day of the shoot, Shaq showed up around 2 p.m. and worked intently with the TCF and APR students for about four hours on Friday, April 6,” Tauton said. “In addition to creating the ad, he was willing to meet with local media for about an hour. We created a shirt for him (size 4X) with one of our campaign slogans, and he wore it all day long. He was just a delight to work with.”
The first LTUT bar initiative was hosted at Innisfree, a supportive partner of the campaign, in 2010. Osier said he likes the idea of hosting the anti-binge drinking event at a bar to show students the message isn’t to stop drinking, but to drink in moderation.
“I think it’s a good idea to have it at Innisfree, or any bar, because it’s a good way to get people aware of the campaign, and you can still drink and have a good time,” Osier said.
