This is one of the new posters the British government is putting up to serve notice to the nation's many anti-social drinkers who get rip-roaringly drunk and do all kinds of anti-social things on the streets. Yes, that says "Eighty Pounds," and yes, that's the fine for street vurping, and yes, you could say the letters are rendered sort of....realistically. All hail Young and Rubicam. Brand Republic reports:

The Home Office poster ads, which will appear from Tuesday, use shock tactics to warn boozers that they face the prospect of an on-the-spot fine if they are caught breaking the law. Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R is behind the campaign.

Avoiding conventional use of typography, one execution spells out "£80" in vomit -- highlighting how much people will be fined for being sick from over-drinking. Another ad shows a man urinating a stream of money down a drain.

The campaign comes ahead of changes to the licensing law from November 24 that will allow some pubs and bars to stay open and serve alcohol 24 hours a day. A Home Office spokesman claimed the campaign is the government's biggest crackdown on drunken behaviour to date. "The message that we are putting out is that the government is absolutely determined to cut down on the yobs who cause misery to others, although everyone has the right to a pleasant drink," he said.

And that's just what I need after viewing the poster.

But the way some of these Brits pound it down in their pubs and public houses....Something's eating at them alright. Their accelerated intake reflects a pervasive joylessness, not good times. Some folks believe the big problem was simply the 11 p.m. cut-off, now being phased out. The piped-in Vivaldi option seems to work on yobbish loiterers, BBC reports; maybe boom-box wielding bobbies are the answer. But as long as the wonderfully-named Home Office is going the Nanny-State route, I've got a better idea. Mandatory psychological surveys in public houses to get to the real roots of the anomie fueling rampant yobbery. My guess: insufficient education; insufficient birth control; insufficient wages; cramped, awful living quarters; lack of green space; tabloids, football and British food.

In the meantime though, the poster's a likely award winner. Now for a wicked good pub game. How many synonyms for vomiting can you name? You get three minutes. Here's a partial list (scroll down to euphimisms), but no peeking before contest time:

...puke, barf, heave, hurl, blow chunks, spew, yack, ralph, retch, chuck, chuck up, upchuck, sick up, spit up, bring up, toss cookies, lose your cookies, lose/blow your lunch, boke, chunder, cack, cascade, disgorge, urp, vurp, technicolor yawn, liquid laugh, laugh at the ground, holler New York, call Earl, paint the walls...

Loser has to down four double shots of Jaegermeister and two pints of bitters before the next advert shows on TV.

TECHNORATI TAGS: HOME OFFICE, POSTERS, VOMIT, FINE

TO COMMENT: The regular "comment" feature is not in operation. E-mail comments to address under "Contact" on main page masthead, and I'll add them, here.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at November 15, 2005 11:03 PM