There have been television commercials lately that appear to be directed at the use of recreational marijuana. They show a healthy young couple at home, each unaware that their significant other is post-recreation. In both, the admittedly high woman asks her high guy to do something not terribly difficult--driving in one ad, slicing a pineapple in the other. Her honey is too toasted to catch the car keys the stoned sweetie tosses him and, in his imagination, attacks the pineapple with a machete. But magically he is not too tanked to make the wise decision not to actually try such complicated tasks. What they are saying is, it is okay to get high for no reason on an ordinary day, but get high responsibly. The obvious logical fallacy in that, is that people who are too drugged to drive a car or even slice a pineapple, have already made irresponsible decisions.
And what the ads are not saying is that neither adult in that household is capable of functioning as an adult. What if the husband cut himself while decapitating the pineapple and needed to get stitches. Not something you'd call an ambulance for. Even if they got a ride to the emergency room, who would fill out the paperwork? Which partner will handle the scam phone calls? Bank account? Look for the lost dog? And what they are not showing, are the children who would most likely be caught in their wasted wake.
The drinking equivalent of these ads, show people who have just finished partying, but wisely choose not to drive themselves home. Next they can try drunk parents at home magically making good decisions about their children. But if they wanted to make ads that were more reality than show, they would need to include the yelling, fighting, crying children, and visit from the police that are part and parcel of the plastered package. No matter how many ads they add, there is no way to be irresponsible responsibly. What they say simply doesn't "ad' up.
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