Usually, home-grown surveys provide an easy news hook for your pitch - especially if they’re tied to a topical and timely subject, like the growing popularity of blogs, natural allergy remedies or anticipated Christmas purchases. Or so the Brewers of Canada thought when they decided to release a survey of student perceptions of drinking behaviour, just in time for the new university and college sessions.

Unfortunately, these surveys can sometimes prompt criticism, cynicism or sarcasm from reporters and readers alike. Even if you emphasize careful statistical work and present a balanced viewpoint in your pitch, you and your issue can experience backlash.

According to the Brewers survey:

First, the survey found that the majority of students (63%) drink twice per month or less. However, 80% of students believe that their peers typically drink once per week or more often. One-third believe that their fellow
students drink at least three times per week.

Second, most students (64%) consume 1 to 4 drinks at parties or bars. The survey found that 67% believe students consume 5 or more drinks per occasion at parties or bars. One-quarter of students believe that average consumption is 7 or more drinks. These first two results indicate that most students overestimate both the quantity other students drink as well as the frequency with which they drink.

I guess this is a situation where the glass is either half empty or half full. The Brewers would prefer to believe that the majority of respondents answered truthfully about their own drinking habits, rather than recognizing that university students often revert to third party descriptions of their own drinking behaviour, especially when speaking to authority figures or unknown third parties.

For example, if an uncle asks about activities during the first week in residence, the average freshman would respond: “Of course, I wasn’t there, but I heard about this wicked kegger last weekend where they filled the bathtub with Purple Jesus.”

The Ottawa Citizen covered the survey in a balanced manner (sub. req.), but influenced the reader’s perception of the issue by topping the article with an image nearly as large as the reporting - an image showing Will Farrell doing a funnel of beer after speaking to the Harvard graduating class this spring.

Finally, the drivetime radio shows this morning were taking calls from actual university and college students about their own drinking habits. Moderation was not the key theme here.

A social issue like binge drinking will obviously prompt people to take sides and offer opinions - even if an interested party like the Brewers of Canada makes a legitimate attempt to explore the problem in more detail.

The lesson to take away from this? Do not sell your management on a home-grown survey as a painless exercise guaranteed to produce favourable coverage. As with every communications issue, make sure to identify the negatives along with the positives.