Couldn't find a picture of the ice cubes but here's the low down on them.
http://www.azcentral.com
Seeing lights in your drink? Time to rethink driving home
Scott Craven
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 31, 2005 12:00 AM
If you're imbibing a bit too much at your favorite hangout this weekend, the next drink may arrive with a pair of flashing red and blue ice cubes.
That Scotch on the rocks may not ask you for your license and registration, but it is trying to get your attention. The novelty cubes are part of a $50,000 program designed to make bar patrons think twice before climbing behind the wheel after a drink-filled evening.
The DUI Abatement Holiday Campaign (motto: "These Lights Will Silent Your Night") was developed as an alternative to the stern warnings in ads featuring police officers, said Michael Hegarty, deputy director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety. advertisement
About 40,000 of the plastic novelty cubes were distributed to clubs and bars throughout Arizona as part of the program that will run through this weekend, Hegarty said. This year it started the day after Thanksgiving.
"It's a fun, new, innovative way to get out the message about drinking and driving," Hegarty said. "We want to get people thinking about how much they've had to drink, and maybe they'll call a cab or a friend to take them home."
Clubs may hand out the plastic cubes as they see fit, though it's suggested bartenders place them in cocktails during happy hour or at last call, when patrons are more likely to have had too much to drink.
Just in case customers don't notice the resemblance between the flashing cubes and the lights on a patrol car, the campaign also includes napkins, posters and informational cards about the dangers of drinking and driving.
Raymond Lally, a bartender at Upper Deck Sports Grill in Scottsdale, said he'll slip the cubes into a gin and tonic or vodka on the rocks near the end of the night for customers who have had a couple of drinks. He said patrons quickly make the connection between the cubes and flashing police lights.
"It's just to let them know that we know how much they've had," Lally said. "It's a fun thing, something that reminds them to be careful without getting in their face. Customers love them."
While the cubes certainly break the ice, Lally isn't sure if they harden anyone's resolve to avoid drinking and driving.
"I think their impact is pretty minor," he said. "But they do get people thinking, and that's the first step."
Zachary Siler, 22, of Tempe, said if he were to be served the cubes, it would make him think twice about whether to drive.
"If anyone knows exactly how much you've had, it's the bartender," Siler said. "I think it gives you more incentive not to drink and drive, and I don't have a problem with that."
The campaign debuted last year when about 20,000 blinking cubes were distributed to bars, Hegarty said. It's difficult to measure its impact, though traffic deaths involving drunken drivers dropped to 435 in 2004 from 470 in 2003. Hegarty said increased DUI patrols coupled with awareness campaigns are having a positive effect.
The cubes are the brainchild of Brad Michaelson, president of Brand Canyon, a Scottsdale ad agency.
Patrons served the cubes may take them home (they can flash for up to 48 hours, and include an off button since the lights can be annoying). But if the plastic cubes are left behind, bars have been told not to reuse them for sanitary purposes.
No, you can't buy them. And "earning" the cubes by drinking too much isn't a good idea, either. Perhaps if you volunteer to be the designated driver, the bartender will happily give you a pair.