Hello Sunday Morning | Nick Crocker

An HSM Update From New York
20/07/10 • 4 Comments

A Fallback Excuse for Newbies If you are new to HSM, and don’t feel ready to explain why you’re not drinking when people offer you a drink, the excuse that is easiest to give is that you are in the last 2 days of finishing a course of antibiotics. That way, you’re not sick, but no-one’s putting pressure on you to drink. An Alternative Way To Make Friends (Not Involving Alcohol) When you feel the pressure to drink in social situations, offer to be the designated driver. That way, everyone in the group is incentivised to keep you sober. What To Say When People Ask You What To Drink Ask for soda and lime when people ask what you want to drink. Universally understood and definitely drinkable. Beer Allows Men To Be Feminine? In conversation with an ad planner who works on a multi-million dollar beer account in the US [...]

Six Weeks In (Nick Crocker)
23/06/10 • 1 Comment

I was so close to breaking. We met some people in Central Park. I offered them jelly beans. They offered me watermelon. ‘As I went to bite, they said – just so you know, it’s spiked with Vodka…’ I dropped it cold. It never touched my mouth. But close. Then, at a restaurant with Jules, she gets a bad glass of wine and says, ‘try this, it’s terrible’. I lean in to taste… And then remember. Again, so close. But I digress. As many smart people have said to me about HSM – surely abstinence isn’t the point? Surely it’s about moderation? And while I agree with them – my comeback is always the same. Until you abstain, you never realise how easy it is to say yes and how hard it is to say no. And more importantly, you don’t build up any capacity for refusal. Six weeks in [...]

HSM Video Blog
08/06/10 • 3 Comments

Hello Sunday Morning from Nick Crocker on Vimeo.

Australia is defined by its drinking culture. We drink to watch sport, at BBQs, with dinner and at parties. The general narrative of teen life from the age of 14-15 onwards is drunkenness. How drunk did you get and what insane situations did that lead to? Drunkenness is tied to a bunch of teenage firsts. Once you hit university, the intensity increases. Binge drinking amongst university students is standard. And for lots of people in the workforce, the ‘weekend warrior’ drinking is the high-point of the week. When I say drinking, I don’t mean European, bottle of wine over dinner and conversation drinking. I mean pubs and clubs, 13 vodkas, withdraw $250 from an ATM and pass out on your bathroom floor drinking. I think Australia has a drinking problem. It’s people’s right to choose how and when they drink. But I also believe that choice architecture – the way decisions are [...]