WKD producer Beverage Brands has unveiled a major new responsible drinking campaign.
The campaign, Look after your mates, is targeted at 18-24 year-olds with the key message that friends should look out for one another on a night out.
Beverage Brands is asking licensees to help it get the message across and is distributing 150,000 campaign packs to 50,000 outlets by the end of the summer.
Each pack contains A3 posters and a briefing document for licensees. The poster-led ampaign is backed up by a website, www.lookafteryourmates.com, which will advise consumers on safe drinking.
The campaign was researched among students at De Montfort Leicester University.
"The best way to get the message across is use a tone that reflects friendly advice, rather than strict instructions," said Karen Salters, joint managing director for Beverage Brands.
"We're using realistic and easily recognisable situations so as to strike a chord with consumers, and we're relating scenarios to things that really matter to this audience: relationships and money.
"At 20, long-term health issues may not concern them, but being injured or looking stupid in front of their mates will.
"We want licenseess to help us deliver these important messages by displaying the posters in prominent places, for example in washrooms and in busy thoroughfares."
David Poley, chief executive of the Portman Group, added: "This new campaign is an extremely positive step by Beverage Brands. Already a proactive manufacturer, these latest measures to promote safe drinking amongst 18-24s are to be commended."
The campaign posters will be available in three ways — inserted in cases of WKD Blue, directly via sales teams who will also advise on effective display and included in all standard point-of-sale kits distributed until the end of September.
Customers can also obtain free materials by contacting the POS Hotline (0800 917 3450).