Anheuser-Busch has joined forces with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Uber
UBER
This comes just weeks after spirits house Diageo unleashed new virtual tools to spread awareness about impaired driving.
The brewing house’s new coalition will utilize all three group’s best assets—Uber’s fleet of safe rides, MADD’s history of resources in the space, and Anheuser-Busch’s access to a globe of drinkers, for one—to build a campaign that reaches a wide spread of drinkers. This is the first time MADD has ever partnered with an alcohol company.
“The coalition will leverage each participant’s unique capabilities—Anheuser-Busch’s large consumer base, Uber’s global scale, and MADD’s historic efforts and influence—to raise awareness, influence policy, and ultimately change consumer behavior,” says Colleen Lucas, VP Better World at Anheuser-Busch.
Why target impaired driving now? Since MADD was founded in 1980, alcohol-impaired driving fatalities have been reduced by 52%.
But over the last decade, this number has flatlined, with an average of 10,000 fatalities occurring each year at the hands of impaired drivers.
The coalition will unfold across a multi-platform Decide to Ride campaign, targeting digital, creative, and out-of-home advertising. It will amplify nationally; including AB’s integration with 20 NFL teams for in-broadcast, social media, and in-stadium media. Additional support will come from NFL teams and players.
“We will also have paid media and an Uber discount code in seven target markets: Washington D.C., Atlanta, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Houston, Denver, and Phoenix,” says Lucas. Riders in certain regions will have access to Uber discounts to get them home after a night.
“Anheuser-Busch is not saying ‘drink more’,” continues Lucas. “Rather, we are and have been promoting responsible decision-making and investing in new ways to drive awareness around these critical issues. By partnering with MADD (and Uber), we’re exploring new opportunities to engage a demographic of consumers where they purchase and/or consume alcohol.”
Anheuser-Busch is one of a wave of major beverage players who are becoming advocates for safer consumption.
Over the last year, Pernod-Ricard’s Ann Mukherjee has spearheaded compelling, though almost paradoxical, campaigns advocating for safer alcohol consumption and stricter underage drinking laws.
Earlier today, Campari also joined Responsibility.org to help the site’s mission to end impaired driving, eliminate underage drinking, and promote responsible consumption.
Diageo recently made a big push to curb drunk driving. Just ahead of labor day, the beverage giant launched a new online tool dubbed ‘The Wrong Side of the Road.’
The tool will allow users to interact virtually with real-life former drunk drivers to show and explain the consequences of alcohol, and the stigma that comes with making the wrong decisions when drinking. They’re jarring—the drivers relay in brutal detail how these incidents upended their lives.
The tool was developed in partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and has the support of Responsibility.org.
“We believe that a single crash caused by impaired driving is one too many. As a leading beverage alcohol company, it is our responsibility to create prevention tools to help save lives,” said Ana Fitzgibbons, Director, Diageo in Society, in a statement. “With this new anti-impaired driving experience and program, we continue to invest and innovate in our approach to further educate people and create awareness, while stigmatizing the irresponsible behavior.