Last night was the annual Captain Morgan Fantasy Fest Parade in Key West, Florida. For the second year in a row, Captain Morgan and the City of Key West Department of Transportation teamed up to provide free Captain Morgan Safe Ride bus shuttles for people enjoying in the festivities.
With Halloween right around the corner, I wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone to drink responsibly during this year’s celebration. You may be masquerading as someone else this Halloween, but be sure to remember who’s beneath the costume and know your limits: drink responsibly.
The program is designed to remind adults that providing underage drinkers with alcohol is unsafe, illegal, and irresponsible. I believe one of the most important aspects of this program is the recognition that adults play an extremely significant role in the battle against underage drinking.
According to The Century Council’s survey of teen drinkers,
65 percent said they obtain the alcohol they drink from family and friends. While this stat is pretty frightening, TCC also commissioned a survey of 1,000 adults to gauge their perceptions on underage drinking and they found that adults and parents do not believe it is acceptable for parents or other adults to provide beverage alcohol to underage youth. 96 percent of adults said it is unacceptable for another parent or other adult to provide alcohol to their teenager without their permission.
Parents all over the country debate whether or not serving alcohol to teens in their own homes is more responsible then letting them go out, not knowing what their kids are up to. I know this discussion – I’m a parent too. But the bottom line that it is never acceptable to serve alcohol to people under the legal drinking age, period. It’s not only irresponsible, but it’s unsafe, illegal and in some states comes with a serious legal price. Instead, talk to your kids, stay engaged and help educate them on the dangers of drinking. This one of the greatest ways we can help our teens stay out of trouble and say no to alcohol before their 21st birthdays.
As I mentioned before, I realize that this topic is often discussed – and debated – and I would love to hear other people’s views on the matter.
Now that school is well under way and college kids are back on campuses across the country, I wanted to share with you what a colleague of mine (Debra Kelly-Ennis, Chief Marketing Officer of Diageo North America) has to say about what we’re doing to help prevent underage drinking.
At many colleges and universities, alcohol awareness has already become part of the curriculum with programs such as Alcohol 101 which was designed by The Century Council to show students how to say no to drinking before they turn 21. We support and work with The Century Council to educate parents and kids as a part of our commitment to preventing underage drinking.
Well hello again! I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything on NoBullBar.com but rest assured – the blog is back in action and raring to go.
And what better way to reenter the blogosphere than by referring you to a story from this past weekend’s New York Times, “Citing Safety, States Ban Alcohol Inhalers” which discusses Alcohol Without Liquid – or AWOL – machines. The story says: “Neither the liquor industry nor antidrinking groups have been leading the push to ban the devices.”
This is blatantly false. Diageo has been leading the charge against AWOL machines since they first made an appearance here in the US. The New York Times got it wrong plain and simple so I wrote them a letter telling them just that. But, as they reminded me in an automated reply to my email, “because of the volume of letters received” they are unable to respond to or print all of the letters.
So in case it doesn’t get published, I wanted to share with you my response to this erroneous article and reiterate Diageo’s position on AWOL machines.
To: The New York Times – Letter to the Editor
Submitted: October 10, 2006
Dear Editor:
Your article “Citing Safety, States Ban Alcohol Inhalers” (10/8/06) correctly raises the dangerous nature of the AWOL or Alcohol Without Liquid machines that allow people to inhale alcohol vapors.
Pure and simple, AWOL machines encourage drunkenness and irresponsible consumption, and unlike all other alcohol products, they are not approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) – the Federal agency that regulates our business.
We believe a fine single malt, a cold beer or a hearty red wine are to be savored, not inhaled. As an industry leader in promoting responsible drinking, my company has publicly supported banning AWOL machines in every state where such legislation has been introduced. We applaud state legislators like those in Kentucky who lead efforts to prohibit the use and sale of the machines.
In an industry where public policy advocates and corporations rarely see eye-to-eye, this is one instance where we are united.
Sincerely,
Guy L. Smith
Executive Vice President
Corporate Relations
Diageo North America
