Malibu and Olympian Tom Daley raise awareness on responsible drinking
Don’t Drink and Dive’ is Malibu’s latest campaign advocating responsible drinking. Through a lighthearted and creative collaboration with Olympic diver Tom Daley, Malibu wants to raise awareness of the risks involved with drinking in and close to water.
Between 2018 and 2022, there were 365 accidental drownings in the UK involving alcohol or drug use, which represents 29 per cent of the total during this period. Those are the hard facts that have laid the groundwork for Malibu’s ‘Don’t Drink and Dive’ campaign. The numbers tell a heartbreaking story, but there is a limit to how much difference you can make by only presenting data.
“Campaigns that advocate responsible drinking can often be a bit dry, no pun intended, so we wanted to create something that catches people’s attention and gets people talking”, says Filip Kiisk, Global Communications & Content Director.
The ‘Don’t Drink and Dive’ campaign did just that when it launched this summer. Olympic diver Tom Daley, who competed for Great Britain during the Summer Olympics in Paris, is the campaign’s headline act and has a clear message to tell: don’t drink and dive.
Daley has made a name for himself not only because of his diving prowess but also for his knitting and crocheting. Under his knitwear brand ‘Made with Love’ he conveys the campaign’s message through nothing other than custom-made knitted swimwear. To help make a real difference, Malibu has also partnered with the Royal Life Saving Society in the UK, which will receive all proceeds from the knitwear sales.
“Our intention was straightforward. We wanted to save lives and create real behavioural change when it comes to responsible consumption of alcohol. We went after a real problem, drinking around water, and took a fun and unexpected approach to cut through the clutter” says Filip.
Just imagine if we can save at least one person from harming themselves or drowning because we get our message across.
Filip Kiisk
Purposeful work
For many, Malibu is the spirit brand people associate with summer1, which naturally involves pool parties and days at the beach1. Filip says that while being the summer go-to drink is flattering and valuable for the brand, it also comes with responsibilities.
Working with this long-term initiative has been both eye-opening and inspiring for Filip and his team. “Creatively, this is super exciting to work with because we have a clear ‘point of view’ where we express a desire to change something. It’s something purpose-driven that we really stand for long-term”, he says. “Just imagine if we can save at least one person from harming themselves or drowning because we get our message across. That would make all hard work and emotions that go in to this worthwhile”.
