Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk

Why it works

The Ad Council and the U.S. Department of Transportation began their campaign against drunk driving in 1983 with "Crashing Glasses", in which two glasses collide and shatter. What outlived every spot was a line: "Friends don't let friends drive drunk." President Reagan was already promoting a holiday campaign under that name in December 1983, and from 1990 it became the national campaign's tagline. It is studied for moving responsibility from the drinker to the people around them: instead of lecturing drivers, it gave friends a duty, a script and social permission to take the keys. "Crashing Glasses" won a Clio in 1984, and later spots told the stories of real people killed by drunk drivers. In 2015 the Ad Council said the slogan was recognised by 90% of American adults. A National Academies review notes that the campaign was never rigorously evaluated, but that it is often regarded as integral to the change in social norms around drinking and driving.