Africa: Guinness sensitises students on dangers in underage alcohol consumption
By Tunbosun Ogundare-Lagos
May 31, 2018
TO further demonstrate its commitment to the responsible use of alcohol in the society, Guinness Nigeria Plc has sensitised no fewer than 5,000 students from 28 selected public and private secondary schools in Lagos State.
The company carried out the campaign through what it tagged ‘SMASHED’ project as part of its corporate social responsibility initiatives towards youths.
SMASHED is a live drama performance by professional actors before the school children of between 14 and 17 years who are in SS1 to SS3 in both public and private schools, as well as the subsequent interactive workshops.
The managing director/CEO, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Peter Ndegwa, in a press release, stated that the company designed the underage alcohol education programme to reduce the incidence of alcohol-related harm among young people who he said were most vulnerable to peer pressure and other societal burdens.
He explained that schools were most effective places for this kind of campaign as no other community institution, according to him, has more continuous and intensive contact with young people than schools.
He, however, noted that Guiness carried out the project according to its Diageo Marketing Code restriction using local partners, which he named as Collingwood Learning and Rue 14 Studios, to dissimilate the message.
The managing director of Collingwood Learning, Mr. Chris Simes, while sharing the success stories of SMASHED project, noted that the award-winning theatre and education initiative was launched in the United Kingdom over a decade ago and had so far delivered in 10 countries around the world, including Mozambique and Nigeria.
Shedding more light on the project, Guinness’ corporate relations director, Mrs. Viola Graham-Douglas, said SMASHED would equip young people with necessary information to help them making responsible choices around alcohol consumption.