Another reason to love Dame Helen Mirren

[auntiehill]

...is that she now has one of the best anti-drunk driving PSA's out there.

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I just love this.

Apparently, Budweiser will donate $1 to a safe ride program for every use of the #GiveADamn hashtag – up to $1 million – from Feb. 2 to Feb. 7.

So, what do you think? Funny? Effective?

 

[The Lady Eve]

Good PSA - love the one continuous take with the camera dollying in on Dame Helen. The woman could hold your attention reading from Robert's Rules of Order.

It would be nice to believe that Mirren's astringent and wry delivery could make a difference in the number of assholes who are going to drive drunk on Super Bowl Sunday. It would be nicer if Mirren could have used her notoriously salty vocabulary for the ad. "Oi - if you're going to get bloody pissed, don't be an effing wanker and drive!"

 

[Crisp Conditions]

So, what do you think?

Great words. On point, and very necessary.

Funny?

Yes.

Effective?

Who knows? Sadly, nothing else so far has been effective enough. You'd think that everybody should have gotten the memo by now. I suppose part of the problem is that people tend to think that messages like these are aimed at *other* people.

 

[auntiehill]

^ True enough. Those of us who would pay attention to this are not the ones that actually NEED to pay attention to it.

A very well done bit, though, for what it's worth.

 

[tomalak301]

Best Queen in a Movie.

 

[RoJoHen]

Who knows? Sadly, nothing else so far has been effective enough. You'd think that everybody should have gotten the memo by now. I suppose part of the problem is that people tend to think that messages like these are aimed at *other* people.

I think it's just that once people start drinking, their initial intentions go out the window.

"I'm only going to have a beer and then go home" turns into "All right, I guess I'll stay for one more."

Next thing you know you're trashed, but at some point you still need to get home, and you (and your friends, most likely) don't have the mental capacity to say, "I shouldn't drive right now."

 

[Crisp Conditions]

I think it's just that once people start drinking, their initial intentions go out the window.

"I'm only going to have a beer and then go home" turns into "All right, I guess I'll stay for one more."

Next thing you know you're trashed, but at some point you still need to get home, and you (and your friends, most likely) don't have the mental capacity to say, "I shouldn't drive right now."

Yeah, no.

We're at, "I didn't need to arrange a designated driver before I went out drinking with my car." That's a problem of judgment while sober. We're back to, "It doesn't apply to me."

Having been out drinking a zillion times myself, I can tell you that it's astonishingly easy to deal with: Simply arrange that I won't be driving after I go out drinking, whether it's just one beer or eight. That's something I can do while sober.

By the way, I caught this ad during the Super Bowl. I remember thinking that it sounded like it might be more effective in context; there's something about the way Dame Helen's scolding came off. I hope it helps.

 

[HIjol]

^ True enough. Those of us who would pay attention to this are not the ones that actually NEED to pay attention to it.

A very well done bit, though, for what it's worth.

Sadly, I think, ^^ this

 

[Gov Kodos]

The beauty of horses and better donkeys which aren't as flighty is they can be your designated driver. But seriously, cars, no, if you have to drive to drink somewhere, that's where the mistake began.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I think it's just that once people start drinking, their initial intentions go out the window.

"I'm only going to have a beer and then go home" turns into "All right, I guess I'll stay for one more."

Next thing you know you're trashed, but at some point you still need to get home, and you (and your friends, most likely) don't have the mental capacity to say, "I shouldn't drive right now."

It should never come to the point where you (general you) are making a judgment call while drinking about whether you can drive safely. If you're going out drinking, you should arrange for safe transport home in advance, period. There's just no excuse in this day and age of designated drivers, taxis, public transportation, Ubers and other car services. Get a nearby hotel room to sleep it off. Or, while not the safest idea while drunk, but still safer than driving (especially for other people), walk home.

Oh, and the Helen Mirren ad was great. I'd listen to her read a phone book.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Packies being cheaper than bars and should distance be an issue, folks should buy their booze at the packy (it being cheaper than any bar) and go home to party. Plenty of room to sleep over and drive home later when sober. This is why we need more appreciation for local pubs to walk to.

 

[RoJoHen]

It should never come to the point where you (general you) are making a judgment call while drinking about whether you can drive safely. If you're going out drinking, you should arrange for safe transport home in advance, period. There's just no excuse in this day and age of designated drivers, taxis, public transportation, Ubers and other car services. Get a nearby hotel room to sleep it off. Or, while not the safest idea while drunk, but still safer than driving (especially for other people), walk home.

I'm not defending drunk driving, just pointing out what I've seen. I work in a bar. People are dumb. Even the people with the best intentions become dumb after they've had a few.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I'm not defending drunk driving, just pointing out what I've seen. I work in a bar. People are dumb. Even the people with the best intentions become dumb after they've had a few.

No, I know you weren't, which is why I made sure to say I was just referring to the general you and not you specifically. It's all good.

 

[The Lady Eve]

The beauty of horses and better donkeys which aren't as flighty is they can be your designated driver. But seriously, cars, no, if you have to drive to drink somewhere, that's where the mistake began.

A Louisiana man avoided a DWI this week by getting a ride from the bar with a four-legged friend.

Jake Williams was apprehended by law enforcement Tuesday while riding his horse, Sugar, down the side of a highway in the town of Watson, local news station WBRZ reported. Williams had earlier driven his truck, with Sugar riding in a horse trailer, to a daiquiri shop. But upon leaving the place, he apparently found himself too intoxicated to drive, according to the station.

"When you get a little too much to drink, why not ride a horse?" he told WBRZ. “It’s safer that way. The horse knows the way home."

Williams’ solution didn’t go as planned, however. Someone called the cops after noticing Williams leaving the bar on the horse. However, since Williams was not in a motorized vehicle, deputies could not charge him with a DWI and instead gave him a ticket for public intoxication.

JustSayNeigh

 

[Gov Kodos]

Sometimes, you can't win for losing.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I'm not defending drunk driving, just pointing out what I've seen. I work in a bar. People are dumb. Even the people with the best intentions become dumb after they've had a few.

Drunk driving seems to be a display of some of the worst qualities in people - not thinking ahead, feeling invincible like "it won't happen to me" (especially true for younger drinkers), worrying more about your own discomfort/embarrassment/spending money on a cab rather than thinking of others, and just plain hubris. Once people get away with it once or twice, they think they are somehow super-drivers or can handle their liquor really well, so it's okay for THEM to do it. Or, they don't want to think about such serious things because they are just out to have fun.

I remember being at a friend's party that I had driven myself too, about 45 minutes away from home. I hadn't planned on drinking but ended up having one drink. Much to the irritation of the people hosting the party, I called my boyfriend to come get me, and it took about an hour for him to get there. Everyone else had left and the hosts were annoyed that they had to "entertain me" for an extra hour, especially since they thought I was overreacting about one drink. These were people who would go to bars and drive themselves home all time, texting each other (while driving of course) to inform their friends of where to avoid police checkpoints. As you can imagine I am not friends with them anymore. It was awkward as hell to sit in their uncomfortable house for an hour, and very inconvenient to get my car the next day (not to mention inconvenient for my boyfriend). But I'd make the same choice again, every time.

Unfortunately there are too many reasons to count as to why one would make the opposite decision. It always seems to be harder to do the right thing. "People are dumb" seems to sum it up pretty nicely.