Clinton Appears in Announcment Encouraging Y2K Designated Driving

As frenzy over the Y2K computer problem continues, officials at the School of Public Health (SPH) are preparing the nation for a different sort of danger this holiday season--drunk driving.

SPH kicked off a campaign called "Make It to the Millennium: Designate a Driver" last weekend with a televised public service announcement by President Bill Clinton.

The announcement, produced by the Harvard Alcohol Project of the SPH, is part of a media blitz to promote designated driving throughout the holiday season.

Jay A. Winsten, director of the Center for Health Communication at SPH, said drunk driving this month may be more of a problem this holiday season because of increased celebration surrounding the new millennium.

"I think there will be a greater problem than recent years, and there will be an increase of fatalities if we are not careful, but we will never go back to the problems of a decade ago," Winsten said.

In the announcement, Clinton said that while drunk driving has decreased in recent years, it remains a problem.

"We can't rest on our efforts, when last year almost 16,000 Americans lost their lives to drunk driving," Clinton said in the announcement. "So this holiday season, if you choose to drink, drink in moderation, and choose a designated driver who doesn't drink at all."

The announcement will continue to air on national networks, as well as 45 cable channels, for the month of December. Local stations are not allowed to pre-empt the spots with other commercials, according to Winsten.

At the encouragement of the SPH, television shows will also focus on themes of alcohol abuse and designated driving over the next month.

The first of these shows, "Becker," which aired last night on CBS, emphasized the dangers of driving drunk and the importance of designated drivers.

"It's a time of greater than normal dangers from alcohol consumption," said Harvey C. Dzodin, vice president for commercial standards at ABC, which is also airing shows with similar themes. "We're are supposed to act in the public interest, which we do."

Other companies, such as Anheuser-Busch, are airing commercials promoting responsible drinking and designated drivers, according to Francine I. Katz, vice president of consumer affairs for Anheuser-Busch.

"We believe that fighting abuse is good for business. Any kind of abuse of the products we make has negative impact on business," Katz said.

"There is also a personal reason. We are all members of society like everyone else and we care about these issues too," Katz added. "When I get on the road with my family, I don't want drunk drivers out there either."

The Center for Health Communication is devoted to using the media to influence positively public behavior and has successfully worked with Hollywood since the 1980s to prevent drunk driving, according to Winsten.

"The term [designated driving] is now in use thanks largely to Hollywood's depiction of designated drivers in the episodes we have worked on," Winsten said.

Since its media efforts began, the center has shifted its focus from year round programming against drunk driving to focusing on the holidays, when the problem is the greatest, Winsten said.

This is Clinton's eighth drunk driving public service announcement.

"It has become a tradition for the U.S. president to do the announcement," Winsten said. "He's been very supportive of all of our campaigns, and we've worked closely with him."