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. 551Brewers, who had actively participated in the societal trend toward indi-vidualization of both problem drinking and problem drinkers, quickly saw thatit was in their best interests to support the drunk driving movement.Brewersendeavored to keep the movement focused on measures to control, limit, andeven punish individual drinkers, and away from any attempts to curtail societalaccess to alcohol.The leaders of the USBA were proud of their work on this issue and theirinvolvement in Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD).Donald Shea, the finalpresident of the USBA, claimed that We were the first major corporate groupto sponsor students against drunk driving.I think it s fair to say that they wouldnot have gotten off the ground without our contribution. The trade associa-tion s contribution was often financial, which could have placed neo-temperanceadvocates in a compromising position.Shea met with an avowed prohibitionist and inquired of him, Bill, what are your people going to say if they know youcame here to raise money? Aren t they going to think it s tainted money? AndBill in his squeaky voice.says, Yeah, goddamit, they ll say tain t enough! 552Brewers responded to public concerns about drinking and driving by devel-oping public service advertisements which emphasized responsible behaviorand moderation.The most famous was Anheuser Busch s campaign, KnowWhen to Say When. The Department of Transportation, with the help of theAd Council, also developed pubic service announcements. Friends Don t LetFriends Drive Drunk was an example.553Brewers were determined to protect the legitimacy of beer and promote in-dividual moderation and responsibility in drinking.On the subsidiary issue ofthe minimum drinking age, brewers chose to remain neutral.Realizing it wasa no-win situation, the USBA and Donald Shea refused to go on record on theissue, describing it as a loser s proposition. 554Potentially the baby boom represented a very large pool of drinkers and wasone factor in a steadily increasing per capita consumption of alcohol.In 1934, the551 Shea interview, 2005; Marjorie Hunter, Commission Urges 21 as Drinking Age, New YorkTimes, December 14, 1983, A24.552 Shea interview, 2005.553 John C Burnham, Bad Habits: Drinking, Smoking, Taking Drugs, Gambling, Sexual Misbehavior, andSwearing in American History (New York: New York University Press, 1993), 81; WilliamDeJong, Charles K.Atkin, Lawrence Wallack, A Critical Analysis of ModerationAdvertising Sponsored by the Beer Industry: Are Responsible Drinking CommercialsDone Responsibly? The Milbank Quarterly, vol.70, no.4.(1992): 661-678; Ad Council, Drunk Driving Prevention (1983-Present), http://www.adcouncil.org/default.aspx?id=137(accessed June 25, 2007).554 Shea interview, 2005.176 Chapter 8.Joe and Jane Six Pack, 1970 2006first year following Repeal, per capita consumption of ethanol or absolute alco-hol was.97 gallons.By 1980 the rate stood at 2.76 gallons.The comparable figuresfor beer were.61 gallons in 1934 and 1.38 gallons in 1980.All of these figuresrepresented the highest levels of alcohol consumption since 1910.555 A nationalminimum drinking age of twenty-one had the potential to cost the overall liquorindustry $11 million.556When alcohol consumption rises above a certain level, societal damage andproblems from the drinking are more readily observable.As has happened atother historical moments of high per capita drinking, a movement against thedrinking developed.Fashioning themselves as public health advocates, these ac-tivists attempted to stay far away from anything that smacked of prohibition.They did not espouse the banning of the sale of alcohol.The new public healthfocus of anti-alcohol advocates was part of a larger concern over the societalcosts of behavior.They had much in common with anti-tobacco activists, as wellas crusaders who spoke in favor of seat belt use or against obesity.Prohibition and Repeal had ended the movement for a societal, national re-sponse to the problems of drinking.It also ended the saloon.These changes cre-ated a vacuum which the disease model of alcoholism filled
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