That Guy
Also: Don't Be That Guy
“Don't be That Guy.”
Department of Defense binge drinking prevention campaign launched in 2006 for junior enlisted personnel aged 18-24. Humorous ads showed the embarrassing, career-damaging drunk peer nobody wants to be ('that guy'), shifting focus from health to social consequences. Replaced in 2019 by Own Your Limits.
- Years
- 2006–2019
- Country
- United States
- Coined
- That Guy
- Topic
- Alcohol
- Asks people to
- Stop
- Strategy
- Coined termHumorSocial norms
- Channel
- EventsOutdoorPrintSocial (organic)TV
- Audience
- Young adultsJunior enlisted service members (E1-E4), 18-24.
Evidence
Self-reportedUnknown
DoD cites a statistical correlation between campaign implementation and lower binge drinking at participating installations (2008 Health Related Behaviors Survey) and 64% awareness among E1-E4 in 2012. The National Academies (2013) found no formal outcome evaluation in a peer-reviewed journal and could not determine effectiveness.
Sponsor (who paid)
- U.S. Department of Defense (TRICARE Management Activity) Federal government, funder and creator
Credits (who made it)
Not recorded yet.
Related campaigns
- Own Your Limits 2019–now
Sources
- Substance Use Disorders in the U.S. Armed Forces (National Academies, 2013), ch. on prevention evaluation · 2013
- Don't Be That Guy: Binge Drinking Prevention Campaign (Army STAND-TO!, 19 Jan 2016) sponsor · 2016
- DoD fights binge drinking through 'That Guy' campaign (Ramstein AB) news
- Alcohol Case Study of That Guy, Dec 2008 (TRICARE, archived) evaluation · 2008
Research notes
Good comparison case for humor/social-consequence framing with weak evidence. Creative agency not confirmed in sources seen. Archived TRICARE URL had spaces, percent-encoded here; check it resolves. Reuse terms checked 2026-10-23 by an AI research pass for #47; not yet reviewed by a person.
Record cases/dod-that-guy.json, updated 2026-10-23· Link to this campaign