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The Ginger enjoying a couple of cold Castles while braaing my dinner - no driving involved!
I’m not going to get all sanctimonious in this post, I just need to state the facts. Who out there hasn’t or doesn’t know anyone who has ever been caught/been in an accident/crashed into something/hurt themselves while driving drunk? Hands up… anyone? Thought not.
Some of us have even had friends or family killed from drunk driving (whether they were the guilty ones or not). All you have to do is drive down any main road on a Friday or Saturday after 23h00 and you can see it first hand. And I’m not saying I’ve never done it – that’s the scary thing, in South Africa we like to make excuses for driving drunk “well, if they fixed the public transport then I wouldn’t have to” … blah blah blah right?
I don’t think we can make those excuses anymore – it’s getting pretty bad and even if you don’t drive that drunk, the guy in the car in front of you could be plastered and you’d better have pretty quick reflexes to avoid becoming part of his mistake, something you cant do after 4 beers. Since a colleague of The Ginger’s nearly had his life ruined from drinking and driving (think police chase, attempted murder charge, evading arrest etc etc) I have woken up a bit – if we go out together, one of us swaps alcohol for water after 2/3 drinks – it works. When I’m the designated driver – I get totally shocked at the insane driving I see on the way home at night. I wonder if it’s getting worse or if the fact that I’m sober now means I can see it better than I could, which is even more scary.
Yes, I’ll admit that being totally sober around a bunch of very merry people the whole night can get a tad irritating, but I’d rather be irritated and alive, thank you. Luckily, Castle Lager seems to have recognised that – they have started the ‘Castle Lager Designated Driver’ Campaign for the festive season.
“Every team needs a hero” is the core idea behind the campaign, which is aimed at promoting responsible drink driving over the festive period. The promotion is currently running at 80 venues around the country until the end of December 2009. People will be encouraged to nominate themselves as designated drivers for the night to Castle Lager promoters at the various venues. Willing participants will undergo a breathalyser test when they register and another one towards the end of the evening before they go home. To encourage minimal alcohol intake during the promotion, each designated driver will be given free soft drinks.
Not bad – I like the way you guys think – but if you really don’t want to be the ‘Designated Dave’ then why not take a cab? The nice folks at Castle have also partnered with SACAB and installed phones in each of the 80 venues so people have a direct, free call to a cab if they get a little too ‘festive’. I’ve been trying the designated driver thing out since I got the heads up from Castle and it’s not that bad at all, AND I don’t wake up with a hangover… bonus! I’ll be going on holiday in a few days time where I intend to drink, so I’ll test out the cabs and let you know.
So, Have a Merry Merry MERRY *hic* Christmas, but don’t drive drunk – you do have other options.
MWAH!
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December 21st, 2009 at 09:31
Totally agree with this. Lets hope attitudes start to change.
December 23rd, 2009 at 08:15
It’s a brilliant idea, and yes I know that it’s a bit of an oxymoron for all the brewery companies to be pushing these campaigns, but damnit, some has to!