Scottish health officials are banking on an Android app and the human tendency toward vanity to help reduce the incidence of alcohol-related illnesses and deaths among Scottish women. On Tuesday the office of the Scottish health secretary launched a free Android app, called Drinking Mirror, which shows women just how much older they’ll look in 10 years if they toss back 10 glasses of wine per week.
The app is part of the Scottish government’s campaign urging women in the country to “Drop a Glass Size” by reducing the number of glasses of wine they drink each week. (There’s no mention of curbing Scotch whisky consumption.) In a release, the Scottish officials say alcohol-related deaths among women in their 30s and 40s have doubled in the last 20 years and cirrhosis rates have tripled in the country.
The Drinking Mirror app snaps a picture of your face and asks how many 175 ml (about 6 ounces) glasses of wine you drink every week, from none to more than 10. If you drink between one and five glasses of wine per week, the app morphs your face into a reddened and pudgier version of your current self. Drink six glasses or more and the app will make you look like a bona fide alcoholic, with a bright red nose, sagging jowls and bloodshot eyes. Though the app is far from flawless, the results are scary enough to make me want to consider skipping that second glass of wine. (A similar jowly faced tack was used by financial services firm Merrill Edge in an effort to get people to “face” retirement and plan accordingly.)
Whisky-swilling Scottish men, it seems, get off scot-free, if you’ll pardon the pun. That’s likely because according to guidelines from Scotland’s heath agency, men can safely consume three to four units of alcohol (one unit is 175 ml) per day, while women should only have between two and three units. The Scottish government says 38 percent of women in the country regularly exceed daily or weekly drinking guidelines, though it doesn’t say how many men are drinking too much. Of course there’s nothing to prevent men from trying the app too.
Scary aging effects or not, it may take more than an app to change the boozy behavior of a country whose residents put away more alcohol than England, Wales and most of Western Europe (except Ireland). Maybe the real prospect of a growing economy could help? Just a thought.
Sarah is a reporter for Wired Business. Pitch her funding and startup news at sarah_mitroff at wired dot com.
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Curbing the Wine Habits of Scotland's Women: Yes, There's an App for That
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Curbing the Wine Habits of Scotland's Women: Yes, There's an App for That
