Published: 9.12.2025
The project showed that education about responsible alcohol consumption can be presented in an attractive and understandable way even to young people and can also attract interest beyond Slovakia's borders.
Students from the Faculty of Mass Media Communication at UCM created a campaign on responsible drinking among young people, which won an international competition and impressed the expert jury in Brussels.
Drink less, experience more – the winning project, created by FMK Creativity Cabinet students Klaudia Stanislavská and Jozef Prokein, targets Generation Z and builds on a strong, memorable message: "Drink less, experience more." They avoided moralizing in their work and approached the topic in a way that is understandable and relatable to young people.
The main inspiration was the phenomenon of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), i.e., the fear that one will miss out on the most important moments. They applied this principle to situations where people drink so much alcohol that they are no longer aware of what is happening around them. The fun continues, but they miss out on the best moments of the evening.
The authors brought a strong vision and perspective to the project and used language that resonates with young people. "We started from an insight that students in particular are familiar with: when they miss a day of school, that's when the most interesting things happen. It's very similar with alcohol," explains award-winning student Klaudia Stanislavská, and Jozef Prokein adds: "It may not seem like it, but producing a campaign about alcohol is a relatively complex topic, so we had to attend expert lectures in psychology and law."
Synergy you won't find in a commercial tender
With this innovative idea, students mastered not only pilot year of the Slovak round of the competition, but their work also met strict European standards. Sixteen universities from six European Union countries participated in the international round, which was initiated by the European organization spiritsEUROPE as part of the United in Moderation project.
The assignment brought to the university OZ Forum Drink with reason (FPSR). The association's chairman, Tomáš Huba, praises the collaboration with academia, as it has yielded results that exceeded expectations. "We provided data and facts about alcohol presented by experts in the fields of psychology, marketing, law, and social work, while the faculty contributed fresh creativity," smiles Tomáš Huba, adding that the quality of the outputs was exceptional: "A synergy developed between us that you just can't achieve in a commercial tender. Students are naturally able to set a different tone for the debate and shift the drinking culture in Slovakia towards greater responsibility, but through their own way of thinking and creativity." According to Huba, all the students' ideas were bold, well thought out, and communicatively strong. "Our students demonstrated not only a feel for the topic, but also the ability to create campaigns with global potential," he says.
Representatives of FMK UCM are equally enthusiastic about the collaboration: "This is exactly what an academy should do: give students real challenges, real assignments, and real space," says Matúš Hliboký, Creative Director of the Creativity Cabinet. "Their success is proof that when we trust young people, they can achieve great things."
Responsibility as a natural choice
The award-winning campaign stands out for its complexity, modularity, and ability to build long-term awareness of responsible alcohol consumption. The students were able to convey this idea to their peers in a way that is natural to them.
The goal is not to prohibit, but to point out the moments that a person misses when they overdo it with alcohol. "The most challenging part of creating the campaign was probably finding the content idea at the beginning, but then also developing it to make it interesting for young people," admits Klaudia Stanislavská. "But we eventually overcame everything by communicating a lot, brainstorming, and trying to find ways to do it in the best possible way."
The winning project has the potential to work in the real world, both at home and abroad. "We want to dispel myths, such as the one that there is soft and hard alcohol. There is only one alcohol," explains Tomáš Huba. "And we want to show that responsible drinking does not mean prohibition. It means freedom—the freedom to make good decisions."
"The success of Klaudia and Jozef shows that when we give young people space, they can develop a topic that is important not only for their generation but also for society as a whole. And they can do so in a way that is innovative, modern, deeply human, and internationally recognized," he adds.
"We would be very happy if the campaign were implemented as we designed it," concludes Jozef Prokein. "And to students who would like to create similar campaigns, we say: don't be afraid to seize the opportunity and get involved in projects like this one."
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