Welcome
We live in a society that has romanced the idea of drinking for decades.
In movies and television, magazine advertising, billboards, and every other form of media, drinking is what the “in crowd” does. We’ve watched candle-lit dinner scenes where fine wine is poured into sparkling crystal goblets. In countless movies, tough-talking roughnecks gather at the bar to share (or fight over) a bottle of whiskey. And many devotees of professional sports wouldn’t think of watching the game (on TV or in the stands) without a beer in hand.
And we can’t forget the images of strikingly attractive men and women, making eye contact across a crowded room, then meet with a provocative smile or a kiss when a drink is offered. Advertising agencies always make alcohol seem like it’s the only thing that brings people together and allows people to have fun.
Madison Avenue has even enlisted animals in their alcohol marketing campaigns! Can you match the drink to the ads that feature Clydesdale horses, bullfrogs, polar bears, bats and lizards? All these creatures have appeared in ads for well-known national brands.
But there’s another side to alcohol:
Have we ever seen an ad that shows an alcoholic, his body bloated and eyes bloodshot, clothes covered with bodily fluids, staggering down an alley toward the cardboard box he calls home? What slogan would accompany that visual? Let The Good Times Roll? Or Here’s To Great Friends? Or Tonight Is Special?
Where’s the fun or romance in that type of drinking?
Of course, it’s ridiculous to think we’d ever see an ad like that. But those scenes are the stark reality of life for millions of men and women (and increasingly, children) whose lives have been ruined by alcoholism.
That’s why rehabilitation is so important. Without it, those who are caught in the endless downward spiral of alcohol addiction have no hope—no way out. When problem drinkers enter rehab, miracles happen: health is restored, families come together, and lives are rebuilt. Those who were once “hopeless drunks” become productive, contributing members of society again.