Over the last few days, I have been sitting in a taxi cab and found myself watching the recent Budweiser Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive drunk campaign, and each time I watch it I am left with the feeling that it is nothing more than marketing.

The setting, a bar full of dancing people, is the appropriate place, but the fact that throughout the clip the friend (who is wondering why his friend is not drinking) does not understand the very point of the spot (i.e. drinking and driving don’t mix) is troubling. Also troubling is that the primary actor gives up on his friend vs. educating his friend.

It was a spot where beyond the messaging of “friends support friends” and “don’t drink and drive” is lost on the actions themselves, and it is really unclear to me what anyone (without a personal interest in teh issue) would think after they watched this.