Because hangovers suck
Jason Ley, Better Drinking Culture (BDC) CEO, wants to know if you’ve ever woken up with a hangover. If so, BDC, a gorilla grass-roots movement to promote drinking (really) responsibly, and to promote a healthier lifestyle, wants to hear from you.
“Because hangovers suck” Ley said, “nobody can debate this.” He adds, “You’ll get over your hangover eventually, but sadly, you’ll never get back the piece of life you lost or mend the damage done to yourself and to others in the process of drinking to excess. Lost memories, regrets, general bad health, and addiction can be the consequences.”
You can’t ignore statistics
The BDC message is spreading organically through social grass roots, but the executive team; Camden Brieden, Joshua Best and Ley, are also actively marketing their message. “We practice what we preach and each of us has own own story. So now we are out on the road, targeting 21 and up with our message. This population often has no guidance,” said Ley. And the statistics are against that population.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), nearly one-third of the adult population engaged in binge drinking in 2015. NIAAA also estimate that about 1 in 4 college students report academic consequences from drinking, 1,825 students die from alcohol-related injuries each year, and there are 696,000 alcohol related assaults on students. Ley also noted, “Since 1969, there has been at least one death per year from college hazing often tied to alcohol consumption.” And the list of statistics goes on.
Working with the alcohol industry
BDC is now partnering with the alcohol production and marketing industry. “Diageo, Moet Hennessy, Brown Forman, and the Kentucky Distillers Association all need to sell product, but they are interested in working with us to encourage responsible better drinking.” says Jason.
The same is true of many local breweries, distilleries, and bars. BDC has developed a certification program, and is working on a system that grades and distinguishes establishments based on their commitment to staff, and customers drinking responsibly in building a better drinking culture in their communities. “We are not looking to promote any one over another; it is to promote a wise choice for the consumer who is interested in their own health and well-being and the same for those around them.” says Jason.
He notes, “If the consensus in your social world is that binge drinking is acceptable and a normal way of life, then we want to have a conversation with you. We don’t want anyone to get to the point of not remembering what an awesome life they could have had.”
Shifting the relationship with alcohol
Founded in 2015, by Brieden and Best, BDC isn’t an anti-drinking movement. Jason says, “Far from it; we all enjoy imbibing alcohol. At BDC we love our favorite craft beers and spirits, but our goal is to ‘shift our culture’s relationship with alcohol in a healthier and more positive direction.”
“We don’t use the phrase ‘drink responsibly’ with its misinterpreted meaning that you can get as drunk as you want as long as you get a safe ride home. We want people to drink responsibly, which means more than just getting a safe ride home… It means determining your personal alcohol boundaries, then respecting them,” Ley continued.
But BDC also wants people to love life. “Instead of waking up hung-over and regretting the night before, feed your own passion to live an amazing life.” said Ley. “That could be anything – cycling, playing music, creating a great meal, or just simply reading a good book.”
Because if there is one thing the BDC wants you to know, it’s that you can’t do any of that when you’re hungover.
Ley admits his initial response when he stumbled across BDC for the first time in 2015, “I wish it would’ve been around when I was in college. I can only imagine now what I could have been and could have done without the binge drinking that was so much a part of my college lifestyle.”
For more info, visit: betterdrinkingculture.org
