Christmas cards and birthday cards that make light of drinking are reinforcing negative social attitudes around excessive alcohol consumption, experts warn in the British Medical Journal. 

Tracey Polak and Virginia Pearson, both public health officials at Devon County Council, said that cards which feature alcohol 'reflect and reinforce a social attitude that excess alcohol consumption is acceptable and associated with celebration'.

They said drink-related messaging on cards had the power to 'influence views on drinking and reinforce this as a social norm'.

According to the Greeting Card Association, one billion cards were sold in the UK during 2017, with a hundred million of them being Christmas cards.  It estimates that 85 per cent of all cards are bought by women. 

Polak and Pearson fear that greeting cards portraying drinking as funny are encouraging more excessive drinking.

In particular, they expressed concerned about cards with messages like ' let's get wrecked' and images that encourage people to drink entire bottles or until they are unconscious. 

They urged people to consider the messaging on the front of their greeting cards before buying them, saying that manufacturers 'may change what they produce if consumers choose not to buy cards depicting irresponsible drinking'. 

'As cards with alcohol themes become more prevalent then a cultural norm develops where drinking in association with celebration becomes the expected,' they said. 

They added that 'perhaps it is worth reflecting the next time that you choose one whether the message is one that you condone and wish to pass on'.