I may be giving away my age here, but I’m of a generation that’s too young to remember life before designated drivers (or DDs).
Growing up in a rural community without adequate public transportation, the necessity of finding a DD was instilled in me since I was a young adult. This, however, is not the case for the many people who can recall a time when the phrase “designated driver” was not in anyone’s vocabulary. This does not mean that designated drivers did not exist. Rather, people did not call the person picked (or volunteered) to remain sober by that name.
I am fortunate to have a professor in a public health communication course who came up with this concept as part of the Harvard Alcohol Project in the 1980s. Dr. Bill DeJung pioneered the (then) novel concept of introducing health and safety-related messaging into television programming.
Working with the former presidents of CBS and NBC, the Harvard School of Public Health convinced network executive television producers to introduce the designated driver concept in their shows.
They did not shoot for the moon, they simply asked for a line of dialogue here and there.
They got a lot more than a few lines. In one season, four popular network programs agreed to dedicate entire episodes (including a very poignant episode of Growing Pains) to the designated driver concept. These seminal episodes reached an estimated 20-34 million viewers. In addition, dozens of other popular programs included designated driving messaging in dialogue (including Cheers and Who’s the Boss?).
Witnessing the success of the health promotion effort, Harvard decided to launch a series of television and radio PSAs focusing on designed drivers.
The impact of Harvard’s efforts were profound. According to a Gallup Poll, Americans increased their use of designated drivers by 10-percent in a single year. Random House even added the term “designated driver” to its College Dictionary.
A willingness to collaborate was one of reasons Harvard’s campaign to increase awareness of designated driving succeeded. Rather than working solely within the public health field, Harvard searched far and wide for allies, eventually tapping major television producers for assistance. Today, public health organizations like the CDC work regularly with entertainment executives to shift perceptions and behavior.
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