saip initiatives

it’ll cost you

This award-winning campaign reduces the risk of harm and vulnerability to under-18s through the reduction of the proxy-purchasing of alcohol. It’s an offence in Scotland for an adult to buy or attempt to buy alcohol for someone who is under the age of 18, for example if a child gives money to an adult to buy alcohol for them. This is known as proxy purchase. The campaign aims to raise awareness this is a criminal offence which carries a fine of up to £5000 or up to 3 months in prison, or both.

The campaign’s foundations
The campaign was created by the Scottish Alcohol Industry Partnership in collaboration with Police Scotland, North Lanarkshire Council and the Scottish Government. This coalition of partners worked together to design and deploy a creative campaign to assist retailers eliminate incidences of an adult knowingly purchasing alcohol for a minor to consume. Several test campaigns ran initially in Motherwell, Wishaw and Leith – all were fully evaluated and deemed successful, leading to an enhanced trial across the entire local authority area of North Lanarkshire in 2017. More than £70,000 of investment was provided by the SAIP and North Lanarkshire Council to fund the initiative.

Disrupt, detect and deter
Independent evaluation of the North Lanarkshire pilot reported 38 adults were detected making a proxy purchase during the campaign and two retailers were found selling to minors. During the campaign, year-on-year public-space assault was reduced by 10% and street drinking was reduced by a remarkable 50%. Independent analysis confirmed increased awareness and comprehension of the proxy-purchase message with high spontaneous recall suggesting that the creative route was very effective. Anecdotal evidence from police confirmed that underage drinking had been disrupted, with youths finding it increasingly difficult to persuade anyone locally to purchase alcohol for them.

Sharing learning and online resource to support campaign rollout
In February 2018 SAIP, Police Scotland and North Lanarkshire Council held an event in Motherwell to share the learning gained from delivering this campaign and its impact and to launch the website as a tool to support other areas to roll out the campaign. The event was attended by over 100 professionals from Police Scotland, local authorities and the industry. A key message to the conference participants was that the success of the campaign was very much based on partnership-working.

As a result, the following areas subsequently rolled-out the campaign, led by Police Scotland: Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire; Burntisland, Fife, Aberdeen, Moray and parts of Glasgow. Again, the campaign was shown to have a positive impact. Glasgow North West recorded a 50% reduction in incidents involving youth and alcohol compared to the same period in 2017.

Further development of the campaign
In 2018, the SAIP obtained a commitment from the Community Alcohol Partnerships to adopt the campaign as their official proxy-purchase campaign in Scotland – consolidating the shared ambition of both organisations. The campaign continued to run in various parts of Scotland in 2019. However, due to COVID was put on hold.

In 2022 the campaign was launched as a national campaign in conjunction with Police Scotland and Community Alcohol Partnerships Scotland. A new campaign strapline was developed ‘It’ll Cost You’. The campaign messages are communicated in store, via social media, at events and using radio ads.

To view evaluation click here.

To find out more

Visit the campaign’s website at
www.itwillcostyou.com