Connecticut’s

Stop-Drunk-Driving Challenge

The Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) is calling upon Connecticut’s youth to help the fight against underage drinking and underage drinking and driving by participating in a statewide competition to create advertising that encourages their peers to refrain from drinking and driving under the influence.

Young adults between the ages of 14 and 20 who live or attend school in Connecticut are eligible to enter.

“When it comes to underage drinking and drinking and driving, there’s no question that we have a significant and widespread problem not only in Connecticut but across the country,” said DOT Commissioner Stephen E. Korta. “With an issue that is largely fueled by peer pressure, we’re hoping to turn that peer pressure around by having young adults use their creative talents to positively influence their peers to be responsible and safe.”

According the Center for Disease Control (CDC), every year, more than 13 million underage youth consume alcohol in the United States, and in any given month, 47 percent of high school students consume at least one alcoholic drink on one or more occasions and 30 percent consume five or more alcoholic drinks in a row.

The “Drink-Drive-Lose Ad Challenge” is being conducted by DOT in partnership with state and local law enforcement, the Connecticut Association of Schools, and Clear Channel Radio’s WKSS-FM and WPHH-FM.

The contest is designed to empower young adults to have a say on this important issue and create communications pieces urging their peers to refrain from drinking and from drinking and driving. The competition includes four categories: print pieces (posters, billboards, print advertisements), radio advertisement, television commercial, and Flash presentation.

Deadlines for print pieces and radio ads are March 11 and March 25 for television ads and Flash pieces.

A two-tiered online voting process will determine contest winners. Once all entries are posted online, the general public may view them and cast votes to determine finalists in each category. A panel of DOT officials, law enforcement officials, educators, advertising professionals, and media representatives will select the winners from the pool of finalists.

Visit www.drunk-drive-lose.com for full contest information.