WE HAVE A DRINKING PROBLEM
“Hello, I’m the Ad Industry and I have a drinking problem.”
Last week, at our UNTAPPED event, I interviewed someone I’ve only recently had the pleasure of meeting, Michael Smith, Sales Director at SQAD. Our talk was titled ‘The (Mis)Use of Alcohol in Our Business’.
When I initially asked Michael if he’d be up for such a talk, he was so open and seemed keen - pretty much agreed straight away. Even though I knew he was in recovery, I didn’t actually stop to think that he was waiving his right to anonymity as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. But of course, that’s exactly what he did, for himself, but mainly for others.
It's always best to be yourself - rather than being someone you think you have to be.
Michael was awesome. The feedback that I’ve had since is that he and his story were the standout in what I hope was overall a great event. He spoke honestly and with vulnerability about his early years in the ad industry, the reasons he drank (to excess), what he thought it gave him at the time and what made him realise that he needed to change his relationship with alcohol. Importantly, he also shared how good life is now, alcohol free, and in my opinion did an incredible job to encourage those that might need it, to make a positive step to helping themselves. Inspiring stuff.
He’s given me permission to share a couple of powerful takeaways that I took from his story:
Having uncomfortable emotions is okay; having a drink to bury them or ignore them doesn’t work in the long run.
Be your authentic self - it’s better than being someone you think you have to be.
And, there is so much value in knowing that you’re not the only one going through what you’re going through. If they can overcome it, so can you.
I can honestly say (and I’ve thought a lot about this since), that it was such a privilege to sit and talk with him, on a stage in front of so many people. I took my responsibility of handling the conversation, with care and boundaries, very seriously. As I’m writing this, I still do. Ultimately though, as much as he was sharing a very intimate and personal story of addiction, his story to tell - not mine, we had a broader point to make.
The ad industry has a drinking problem. As do many others.
Legendary tales of ‘crazy, booze-fuelled’ lunches and nights out are as commonplace in the UK advertising industry as they are in the rock ‘n’ roll history books. Often we laud over them, sometimes giving legendary status to those nights (and days) when we do shit we often regret.
It’s socially acceptable, and even expected, that client entertainment, team celebrations, industry events, conferences, Friday afternoons... you name it, the list goes on… are laced with and centered around a culture of drinking alcohol, often to excess. I mean, for years, we’ve put quotation marks around ‘Strategy’ days! We may work during strategy days, but it’s a given that ‘we’re all gonna get pissed in the evening right?!’ Roll on the stories the morning after the night before.
None of this is good. Drinking to excess so regularly is obviously not good. But that’s not the main point I want to make.
For me, this is a matter of INCLUSION.
According to the ONS, 20.4% of the UK population doesn’t drink alcohol at all and that figure is rising, particularly amongst 16-24 year olds.
So that should be 1 in 5 right? 1 in 5 people in the ad industry don’t drink for a myriad of reasons. Whether it's for their faith, a simple lifestyle choice, a physical or mental health condition or perhaps because they’re a recovering addict. That 20% doesn’t even include the huge numbers of people who perhaps just 'don't fancy one today'.
I did years in the industry, had some of the best experiences of my life. Lots of them filled with copious amounts of booze and ridiculous stories that will always make me smile. Shitloads of boozy fun nights. That’s the truth. Luckily, I’ve never had what I consider to be an unhealthy relationship with alcohol and I’m grateful for that.
However, there were so many times when I forgot about the 20%. So many times.
I'd forget that some, from different faiths, don't drink
My default was that everyone drank, that people would want to drink, because that was the way it was and I wanted to too. I’m definitely guilty on more than one occasion of trying to convince people to have a drink when they said they weren’t drinking that day. I’m Catholic, grew up surrounded by other Catholics and Christians; I’d forget that some from different faiths, don’t drink.
It used to be standard practice, to do ‘third interviews to meet the team’, in the pub. Standard! Imagine if you didn’t drink or if you just didn’t want to drink and you’re looking to secure a job and then your last potential ‘test’ is to meet everyone at the pub! I’m feeling stressed right now just trying to work out how I would play it.
That’s exclusion. And that’s just one example of what we’re doing to our talent, our people, our clients, when we don’t recognise the simple fact that some people don’t drink alcohol or that they may be different to ourselves..
I’m not suggesting that our industry should ban drinking because it is ‘bad’ or because it can enable unhealthy relationships with alcohol. A huge part of the solution is much easier than that.
I just didn't think about it enough. And we as an industry don’t speak about it for some reason. I’m writing this and we did our talk that day to get people to THINK ABOUT IT. Think about the industry’s relationship with alcohol and who we might be excluding, probably inadvertently.
Be conscious.
Be mindful.
Talk about it with the people you work with, and not just the people you usually work with.
We don’t have to drink to have fun, to build relationships or to do our jobs! Not drinking does not mean ‘not social’.
So what can we do? It’s really not that hard. Here are five suggestions to get you started:
Don’t assume that everyone will be drinking. Remember the 20% and respect them. (Please don’t try to convince someone to have a drink if they say they’re not drinking. Please don’t tell someone ‘not to be boring’!)
If you’re planning any kind of event, large or small, check with the venue if they offer alcohol free drinks. Not just Coke or juice - think mocktails, alcohol free beers, nosecco, a variety would be good. If they say that they don’t, ask them to - use your spending power.
Take the time to think about other ideas or experiences for client entertainment or team celebrations. Activities such as cooking classes, health & wellbeing activities, escape rooms and even axe-throwing are all on the rise and are great ways to build relationships
If you know someone doesn’t drink and you’re stuck for ideas for a get-together, positively acknowledge the fact and then ask them what they might want to do.
Breakfasts, coffee meets or afternoon tea are a good alternative to a boozy lunch (Personally I like bubble tea!)
Lastly, 1 in 5 is the UK population stat. I don’t have the ad industry numbers but I bet it’s nowhere near 1 in 5. Think about that.
And think about the brilliant talent out there that you might be missing out on because we’ve excluded them.
Elaine dela Cruz is the Co-Founder of Project 23, a performance consultancy on a mission to make media a fairer, happier and more productive workplace.