Temperance - Anti Alcohol Campaign

The Temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. I was initially attracted to this social movement because of the imagery that was being presented to me.

 I found this image humorous and educational at the same time. The imagery is really well done and thought provoking to the intended audience. The poster is all in French. Here is the write up I found to go with it...

“An extraordinary large double sided anti-alcohol poster (measuring 118cm x 97cm), illustrating graphically the alleged dangers of industrial alcohol and absinthe, and praising the healthy effects of wine, cider and beer.
Designed for display in schools, it clearly shows the influence of the wine lobby as the force behind the French temperance movement, because the use of wine is not just not condemned, it’s almost actively encouraged. Particularly noteworthy are the two contrasting guinea pig experiments: in the one the animal is fed industrial alcohol and has the usual epileptic fit and then dies a horrible death; in the other the guinea pig is fed wine and has nothing worse than a pleasant sleep, before waking up with presumably only a mild hangover…

Absinthe is singled out for special opprobrium on the reverse side: L’Absinthe est un poison plus redoutable que la morphine et la belladone - Absinthe is a more fearsome poison than morphine or deadly nightshade.

The poster was designed by Dr Galtier-Boissière, curator of the scientific collections at the Musée Pédagogique de l’État, and printed in 1898 by Armand Colin et Cie in Paris.”

Here is a similar message and use of imagery. I do like this idea, not much of an emphasis on typography though.

"This Independent Order of Rechabites poster-calendar from 1913 includes portraits of temperance leaders W. A. Platt and W. Johnson. Christian temperance groups adopted the name 'Rechabites' from the Biblical descendants of Rechab through Jonadab or Jehonadab; the latter forbade his descendants from drinking wine."

The style of these posters are so different to anything we see now days. The concept would not be taken on board as easily I don't think. We don't really look up to political or social leaders like they did back then. The idea has evolved to looking up to celebrities as the role models. For example the smokefree campaign in New Zealand uses high profile New Zealander celebrities expressing their distaste for smoking and smokers.

This poster is so epic I can't help but smile at it. So much symbolism! I had to chuck that in there.

I was interested in a particular website I came across, covering all the old silent films that had a strong anti-alcohol message. There was a French movement of all these movies mostly about the downfall of man through the addiction of absinthe.

The still images sparked a lot of ideas of having the silent film theme with the black and white quotes that they have. And ideas sprung to have a story on my cards like a comic or a story board for a movie.

Ideas for packaging and presenting also kept my mind pretty occupied...

• a short movie (presenting my cards as stills) flickering, clicking and dissolving with loud reel sounds
• have the cards attatched to a physical film reel in the form of film
• use an old slide projector
• A view master would be awesome but hard to attain

The challenge now lies in presenting the message to an audience. How can I bring the Temperance movement into the present day to be looked at and taken in by Kiwis? (youth and older role model figures: grandparents parents, teachers etc.)