END SPIKING, NOW.

Today, leading youth and social publisher LADbible Group launches ‘End Spiking, Now’ campaign, in partnership with Stamp Out Spiking, to raise awareness on the severity of the drink spiking problem in the UK, which affects seven in ten 18-24-year-olds, according to new research.  

The campaign, running on social and OOH, aims to target the hard-to-reach 16-24 year-old market in the UK, and encourages those to speak out against spiking incidents, whilst educating its audience on how they can get help.  

This comes as the government moves to modernise spiking laws, to make clear spiking is a crime. However, awareness of these legislative efforts remains low amongst young adults. 

To mark the launch of the campaign, and fuel its creative, LADbible Group have commissioned a Stop Spiking, Now report 2024 which reveals alarming statistics about the prevalence of drink spiking.  

Utilising LADbible Group’s consumer youth panel LADnation, with over 55,000 participants, it is revealed that 70% of 18–24-year-olds have either experienced or witnessed drink spiking and a staggering 87% of victims did not report their incidents to the police.  

82% of victims agreed they would more likely report incidents if spiking were explicitly illegal. 

To shed a light on the realities of spiking for victims, LADbible Group has launched a spiking awareness campaign called, End Spiking, Now. The campaign aims to focus on raising awareness of the spiking epidemic and to encourage others to share their experiences. As the largest survey conducted in the UK on this issue, it intends to exert pressure on the government to fulfil their commitments to enact necessary legislation changes. 

To kick off the campaign, LADbible Group have launched original series ‘Survivors of Spiking: Our Stories’. Over four episodes, it will feature first-hand stories of real victims, shared across the group’s platforms on LADbible via Facebook, X, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts, a combined reach of 976.1 million per month.  

The publisher has also teamed up with capital xtra host Jourdan, a victim of spiking, to create a satirical sketch based on people’s experiences when they leave their drinks unattended in bars that encourages people to use stop tops, a versatile drink-protectors from Stamp Out Spiking, designed to deter drink spikers.  

To help drive further awareness, LADbible Group are launching OOH in Manchester, on one of Europe’s largest billboards. Conceived and executed by LADbible Group’s in-house design team, the creative features a quote taken directly from one of the Survivor stories: “I could hear, and I could feel, but I couldn’t see, and I couldn’t speak”, along with information from Stamp Out Spiking on ways to get help.

Additional social content features vox pops, to understand the public’s views further, which will be hosted on its channels exploring people’s knowledge, or lack of on the law around spiking and exploring their personal experiences. Throughout all activations, LADbible Group are signposting with an anonymous survey from Stamp Out Spiking, to encourage people to share their experiences if they have been spiked. 

Cloé Ambrose, Head of Brand Marketing at LADbible Group, said: “We are committed to using the scale and reach of our platforms, which reaches six in ten 18–24-year-olds in the UK, to raise awareness on the concerning prevalence of drink spiking, especially among Gen Z. We are proud to partner with Stamp Out Spiking and with them, drive as many people as possible to anonymously submit their survivor accounts, which will then be used to try and change the law to help make spiking a specific criminal offence. We hope this campaign advocates for change to ensure the safety and well-being among young adults”.  

Dawn Dines, CEO and founder of Stamp Out Spiking, said: “We firmly believe key safeguarding education is urgently needed to ensure the safety of partygoers across the UK. The numbers speak for themselves, with 60% of young adults supporting our mission, advocating for advanced training for venue staff and greater education regarding spiking awareness.” 

Full report: Stop Spiking, Now report 2024

Stamp Out Spiking survey: https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/7S27CQH   

ENDS 

Notes to editors:  

2,063 individuals aged 16-24 were surveyed for the research.  

The research was commissioned by LADbible Group and conducted through its consumer youth panel LADnation – a consumer youth panel consisting of over 55,000 Gen Z’s and Millennials.