Amsterdam launches stay away ad campaign targeting young British men

BBC reported that Amsterdam has warned rowdy British sex and drug tourists to “stay away”.

A digital discouragement campaign targeting men aged 18 to 35 in the UK is being pushed out by the Dutch city’s council. The initiative forms part of efforts to clean up Amsterdam’s raunchy reputation as Europe’s most liberal party capital.

Typically blunt, the videos show young men staggering in the street, handcuffed by police, finger-printed and having their mugshots taken. The online ads, highlighting the risks associated with the excessive use of drugs and booze, will be triggered when people in Britain tap in terms like – stag party, cheap hotel or pub crawl Amsterdam.

The message is uncompromising – a long weekend in Amsterdam may create the wrong kind of memories, the escapism you crave in the renowned party capital could result in inescapable convictions.

Brits can find return flights to Amsterdam for £50 (€57; $62). UK-based travel agencies also offer stag weekends in Amsterdam, including canal boat cruises with unlimited booze, “steak and strip” nights and red light district pub crawls.

For years people have complained of drunken Brits urinating in public, throwing up in canals, stripping off and engaging in drunken brawls. This is not a new phenomenon. Almost a decade ago, Amsterdam’s then mayor invited his London counterpart Boris Johnson, who had described the city as “sleazy”, to see for himself what Brits got up to. “They don’t wear a coat as they slalom through the red light district… they sing ‘You’ll never walk alone’. They are dressed as rabbits or priests and sometimes they are not dressed at all. I’d love to invite him to witness it,” Eberhard van der Laan said at the time.

Critics argue the targeted ad campaigns are discriminatory and are based on unfair stereotypes.