A Highly Respectable Message from Budweiser

We're adults, we know the law, I know how much beer I can safely drink and drive. I could care less about party till you puke commercials, or the girls in bikini at the beach stuff. Nothing wrong with a little positive message, sure they send a dual message here, but I don't have a problem with it, it's their time and money, I'm not out a thing.

 

No doubt, just don't think they really earn a pat on the back here.

 

Can you cite your sources that prove this message is "insincere" and that "they don't mean it?" I'm guessing no. Just because you want to be a hater doesn't mean they actually don't want people going out and doing stupid things to endanger lives. Of course they want people to drink as much of their beer as possible. OF COURSE they do. It's pretty tough to succeed as a company without people buying your product. That doesn't mean there is EVER an excuse to drink and drive. They know that. You know that. Everyone knows it's a stupid thing to do. This is one of the most absurd comments I have ever seen on this site. How many craft breweries put ad money into asking people to make good decisions? AB is automatically insincere because they are a big corporation? Get out of here.

 

That wasn't Bud hating. The comment had nothing to with any kind of AB vs craft take. I actually don't do much macro bashing at all. This might sound stupid, but I think it makes sense. Do you remember that Simpsons episode where Barney won some Duff contest and he couldn't drink because he was elected the designated driver? Duff man replies in a monotone legal disclaimer voice"Yeah, that's great, Duff whole heartedly supports the designated driver program." And then shouts, "Now who wants to party!" That's what every one of these public service commercials from a beer company always feels like to me.

 

Why the fcks are we paying so much attention to what that company does??!!!! All it is, is free publicity to them. seems like every week there is something about Anheuser Busch on this site.

 

Somehow I cannot see Dame Helen Mirren drinking Budweiser. Similarly I cannot see her driving; she probably has a chauffeur drive her everywhere.

 

Simply what's the point on starting a thread about it on this site thought? Its like Britney Spears singing at a black metal concert expected to be well received. Its simply pointless well unless you are Anheuser Busch then you are loving the free publicity.

 

I will lead with this: drunk driving is a highly irresponsible decision and has lead to many problems, accidents, and loss.

With that said there is a focus on punishment, increasing punishment, and decreasing the threshold for punishment. What I would like to see maybe instead of or in addition to harsh punishment is making getting a ride easier. Maybe if a cab wasn't outrageously expensive for a ride (in Seattle, 4 miles was about $20) or if there were less restrictions on ride sharing services like Lyft or Uber. Maybe invest in a shuttle that takes pickup requests toward the end of the night? Maybe subsidize a smaller company that previously wasn't able to give special services to after-party patrons? I know this money has to come from somewhere, I'd even support a small tax to help pay for it. Or maybe use the money from all of the DUIs. There are options.

As an observer I just feel that the onus is on prevention by punishment. Maybe we should give some focus to prevention by enabling drivers to have a reasonable choice when driving is no longer the responsible one.

 

It depends. What's she wearing?

 

Hahaha. That would have mattered 15 years ago when she still looked good.

 

She's still alright. She was born on the same day and year as me. That's my in if we ever meet.

 

This is one thing I love about living in NYC. I can drink till I'm shitfaced and simply take the subway home.

 

I'll admit that I have driven while toasted. Back in the 70s the police (around here) were far more lenient than current enforcement standards. While we were not blindly drunk and behind the wheel, we would have not passed legal muster. I talked my way out of more than one dangerous legal situation. This will not happen now! I have mostly been lucky about many things, driving and drinking is now something that I will not do. Budweiser be "danged".

 

I bet many of a certain age have similar tales. Things were definitely different decades ago, and thankfully for many of us it didn't take a tragedy to get us to wise up.

The thing about ads like this, and raising awareness on the whole, is that it has definitely had a positive cumulative effect over the years. One ad may not change anyone's behavior, but it's really just a small part of the big picture.

 

Until fairly recently the subway in Boston closed before last call, which always struck me as basically admitting that you're not serious about curtailing drunk driving.

 

I disagree. I browsed through that thread and found 95% of comments suggesting they only drink 5-10 beers per week. I think I even commented somewhere on that thread how amazed I am about every one's self restrictions. I dont know. It's the Internet. People lie.

 

As I read through this thread, all I can think of is the widespread outcry from certain people when Capital One aired one of their commercials that involves Samuel L. Jackson using the word, "damn."

 

Well since the MAJORITY of vehicle deaths in the US are NOT due to alcohol, but incompetence, maybe Budweiser should put all that money into DRIVER TRAINING courses for beginning drivers. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/general-statistics/fatalityfacts/state-by-state-overview

 

Your premise is based on a couple of assumptions I disagree with. The first is that our threshold and punishment is harsh. They are not. On the punishment side, most states seem to have lenient "first offender" laws. When statistics indicate that the average driver arrested for DWI has already driven over the legal limit dozens of times or more, the idea of "first offender" is ludicrous. A suspended license is hardly punishment at all, since the chances of getting caught are low. As to the threshold, most of Europe is 0.05% or lower, with Sweden famously at 0.02%.

Secondly, your proposal rides on an assumption that people would act responsibly if only it did not cost them any money. Baloney. Driving drunk is irresponsible on its face.