The Josh Innes Show - Hypocritical Surveys

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

I saw a survey conducted by Heineken regarding the number of people who drive after day drinking. I enjoy when these companies who produce and peddle vices try to make it seem like they care... As I always say, if these things can cause so much damage, maybe you should stop selling them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, here's a story that kind of falls under the category of, no shit. Heineken survey, 60% of Americans who day drink admit to driving after. No way. Heineken USA's new campaign, there's no such thing as fine to drive, is helping to shine a light on the risks of day drinking and driving. The initiative is a collaboration with team coalition and nonprofit focused on safe, fun, and events. As part of the collab, they surveyed 1,015 drinkers, ages 21 and up, revealing a concerning trend. 60% of Americans who day drink admit to driving afterwards. Like, as opposed to night drinking?

Like, what are we doing here? Like, listen, guys, it's not good to drink during the day and drive. But if you're going to go to a bar like on a Tuesday night, drive home at night. Like, why not just focus on drinking in general? Maybe there'll be more details in the story. like, I feel like, or maybe they're intimating the people who drink at night, take more Ubers, ride shares, stuff like that. I don't know.

60% of Americans who day drink admit to driving afterward, Heineken wants to challenge the common assumption that having a meal or water makes it safe to drive after a few drinks. Then let me ask you this, why should restaurants then serve alcohol at all if it's not safe to drive after a drink or two. Let me play a couple of commercials here. Let's play a couple of commercials and we'll dive into this story from

Heineken. Only 45% of respondents say their group always has a designated driver. When a day drink, I never have a designated driver. Now, generally speaking, I don't drive a ton

after drinking alcohol anymore. I don't really drink alcohol out anymore. I mostly just sit at home, play yachts, bet on sports and drink alcohol. So take from that what you will. But if we do go out, like, and we day drink or go to a football game or whatever, generally speaking, I'm not going to drive. That's not to say that I haven't driven lately after having a couple of drinks.

That's kind of how it would be. Like when I would go to work in St. Louis and all the management people would be in the Italian restaurant on the first floor of the building. And they'd all be down there drinking from like 4 o'clock until like 7 o'clock every night, seemingly. and they'd have a couple of drinks and drive and go home. That's just the way things work, right? But, like, the idea that, like, it's some breaking news that people, you know, that day drink, some of them drive home, like, okay, cool.

11% say they have never had a DD or act as one. Many believe they're fine to drive after two drinks if they've eaten. That's a risky misconception. What if you can just have two drinks and not be drunk? Like, not everybody who has two drinks. Like, that's why these kind of surveys conducted by Heineken here are unfair. Like, who's to say that you can have two drinks? What if it's two domestic beers?

You want to tell me that I can't have two bushlights and be able to drive? Like, two bushlights, I mean, that's nothing, right? I'm not drinking two double crown and coax or something like that. I'm drinking two bushlights. You want to tell me that I can't have two pints of bushlight even and drive home? like, come on, man, I'm an adult here. We used to live in a society where people could crack open a beer and drink a beer on the way home from work.

I'm not telling you that that's necessarily the answer in life, but what I'm telling you is that an adult human can have a beer or two beers and be fine to drive. And oh, by the way, if you're eating food and drinking water, I do imagine that that helps. I don't believe that's an urban legend or a myth that having a full stomach absorb some of that alcohol, thus making you fine. Like, I don't see where this is a thing. The likelihood of using the designated drivers far lower during brunch, 20%, July 4th events, 41%, or beach outings, 26%.

Then at nightclubs, 67%. Yeah, because not everybody likes a nightclub. Everybody likes going to the beach. Everybody likes the 4th of July, except for liberals. And everybody likes going to brunch. Not everybody's like, you know what I love, going to the nightclub. So sometimes you can drag a friend along with you so they can drive so you can get plastered. And also when you go to a nightclub, you're going to a nightclub with the assumption and the ambition to get drunk.

Sometimes you're going to the beach and you might just have a beer or two. And then before you know what, you're chugging 10 of them and you're hammered. Like you don't always go out with the intentions of getting bombed. That's not always how this works. Like the idea that like you just go out and every time you're out and about, you're like, you know what? I'm getting toasted. Again, that's not necessarily the case. Now, when you go to a nightclub, again, for the sake of this story where 67% of people who go to nightclubs say they have a designated driver,

you're going to the nightclub to party to get laid and to get blitzed and maybe to do coke in the bathroom. That's why you go to nightclubs. To try to change people's casual attitudes about day drinking and driving, Heineken is partnering with creators like Cassidy Jordan and Jaron. Barbosa to promote responsible drinking habits. The campaign builds on the brewer's broader when you drive, never drink message. It is part of their brew a better world strategy. CEO Maggie Timney sums it up. Our goal is simple. To make a real difference by reminding everyone that when you drive, you should never drink. Look, I have done some things that I view as

regrettable, and I think we all have. I have told you stories about how I've driven home after drinking and I'll find myself like I can't find my car the next morning like you know look I have done shit and I should be dead God forbid I should have killed somebody else I mean I could have been an accident like I have made mistakes in my early 20s before ubers were prevalent there's no excuse to be out you know and not be there's no excuse to be hammered and drive because there's ubers and they're readily available and you're fine but the idea that like you can't go to a restaurant and have a beer or two and drive home is preposterous. Now, not everybody can handle it. Some people can get hammered on two beers, right? Like, I guess. I don't know that

life. I'm not a child. So some people can get hammered on two beers. But, like, I just don't view this as, here's another problem I have. When these alcohol companies like Heineken want to pick and choose or cherry pick certain things to focus on as part of their initiatives, like Don't day drink and drive. Well, why don't you, I mean, if you really wanted to pop people for drinking and driving and you really wanted to make the world safer, you could have DUI checkpoints at every football stadium with everybody leaving a football or baseball game. You'd probably get a million DUIs in that situation, but you don't do that. So why are we cherry picking this particular instance, right? Look, I'm not telling you to go out and get hammered and drive home.

That's not a good thing. But alcohol impacts people in a different way. Like a drunk is not going to feel anything from two beers. You know, like, this isn't overly difficult to deal with here. But you get these companies that want to come out and they try to make it. Like, that's the thing about alcohol companies because alcohol has no redeeming quality. That's the thing that fascinates me about things like cigarettes, alcohol, tobacco, gambling even. Even though, in theory, gambling can lead you to success and riches.

It can also lead you to being broke and being thousands of dollars in debt. about that all the time. So a lot of these vices have, the reason it's a vice is because there is no redeeming quality. It might make you feel good and you might enjoy it, but it's not like it's something that brings you great, there's something that there's no health benefit. Like in the long run, if you drink alcohol every day or you drink a binge drink or whatever, it's not like you're in a situation where you're going to go, oh yeah, I'm fully healthy because of this. a lot of these stories you read about people that live to like 110, a lot of these people, like, they're like, what's your secret to life?

Well, I take a shot of my lord every day, and I'm 110. So, you know, whatever. But, like, if you want to keep people from drinking and driving, Heineken, I mean, the obvious answer is, don't sell alcohol. If there's not alcohol, people won't day drink. And if they don't day drink, they can't day drink and drive. That would be the answer. Because really, what benefit does alcohol have?

It has no benefit whatsoever other than to maybe help you get laid, which is a good benefit, but it doesn't have a great benefit. There's nothing that makes you go, oh, alkihal, like, that's good for my gut or that cured my arthritis. Like, there's no positive. There's no good that comes from alcohol. There's no good that comes from cigarettes. There's no good that comes from chewing tobacco. These are all things that in moderation probably aren't the end of the world, but could probably. kill you. There's nothing that's going to be good in your life that's going to come because you

were hammered health-wise. I'm just talking physical health. Like you might, you know, land the big account because you were hammered and you were loosened up a little bit and everybody loved you and you got the job or whatever. I've been there before too. But there's nothing about alcohol that it has a redeeming quality, right? So if you were really concerned, that concerned about the health of people, you'd say, you know what, we're getting out of the beer business because beer is no good. It does not have a redeeming quality. There's nothing positive that comes from drinking alcohol. But you're not going to do that. Why are you not going to do that? Because this is how you make your money. So then what you have to do is you have to present

these ridiculous things like, you know, these initiatives to let people know that if you're going to day drink, don't drive. Well, no shit. It's probably not a good idea. But if you really wanted to prevent drunk driving accidents, don't sell alcohol anymore. You want people to not get lung cancer and emphysema don't sell cigarettes anymore you don't want people to go broke from gambling shut down all the casinos we are a hypocritical country because we love to point fingers at you and say hey all you addicts and all you people that do abuse these things stop abusing them but then in the same time you're watching a ball game and it's uh oh uh please bet on fan duel for home run props and player props and dunk props and passing props oh you know what alcohol

Don't drive drunk, but hey, go celebrate and party at the tailgate all day. Go to the game and get blackout drunk and then make a good decision while you're blackout drunk. There's an idea. Hey, guys, like here we are to prevent, you know, men from getting throat cancer. But we're going to sell them a bunch of cigarettes. That's the problem. Look, I'm not saying abolish all of these things or get rid of all these things. I don't think you should.

People need to learn how to do things in moderation and we shouldn't punish the people who can. because of the people who can't. That's in anything in life. However, I find it to be hypocritical and I find it to be bogus when I see things like Heineken or companies like Heineken trying to pretend that they care about your safety. They don't give a shit about your safety. Heineken doesn't care if you live or die.

Heineken cares if you buy their shit and they care about the perception that they care about whether or not you're drinking and driving. They don't give a shit. They do not care. and if they did everybody would come together and say everything that's a vice we ain't selling it anymore but they won't there's too much money to be made from it so what they do is they come out with polls and surveys and studies that basically say hey by the way we know that people drink during the day

don't do it get a designated driver there you go this message paid for by hyniquin USA and in the same breath you know like they'll tell you that alcohol is good and you should drink it there is zero redeeming quality. And oh, by the way, a lot of times alcohol doesn't even taste good. We literally drink it just to get hammered. No one drinks a 14% IPA and goes, boy, that tastes fucking good. No. People drink a 14% IPA to get drunk and to be hipster douchebags and judge you for drinking a bush light. That's essentially the only reason anybody would drink one of those IPAs. Anyway, more to come.