PICTURE the scene: customers have chosen your bar or restaurant as the venue for a special celebration; they’ve perhaps picked a slightly more expensive bottle of wine than they would usually order, some premium beers and maybe a dram or two; you serve the drinks in the appropriate – often branded and specially-designed – glassware.
But there’s one difference: each glass bears a line indicating the number of alcohol units contained in that amount of liquid.
It’s hardly a premium drinking experience; it’s hardly going to encourage people out into pubs; and it’s going to have absolutely no impact on those drinking at home from an unlined glass.
It’s also going to cost operators time and money to replace existing glasses with those featuring a units marker.
Don’t get me wrong, responsible drinking should be encouraged at all times.
And the endeavours of alcohol awareness charity Drinkaware – and other similar organisations – to promote the responsible consumption of alcohol are to be commended.
Operators have also taken huge strides to highlight responsible drinking, most recently through a campaign designed to increase the availability of the 125ml wine measure.
But the idea that glasses in pubs and restaurants should have a unit line marked on them while consumers can drink alcohol bought from shops and supermarkets in unmarked glasses at home seems, quite frankly, absurd.
