Bacardi has a long standing commitment to social responsibility and a long heritage of incorporating responsible consumption messages into its advertising. They have taken on several activities and events emphasizing the responsible consumption of alcohol. They continue to take a strong stance on underage drinking today through their 2009 “We Don’t Serve Teens” campaign. Bacardi has secured more than $1.3 million in television, radio, print, online and outdoor media placements from its partners in order to support the campaign. The purpose and aim of the campaign is to curb illegal and underage drinking.

Bacardi, a leading spirits and wine producer, takes its commitment to safe drinking practices seriously. This powerful campaign is a joint public-private partnership between the federal and state governments, the spirits industry, various consumer organizations, The Century Council and The Distilled Spirits Council. Bacardi is a member of both The Century Council and The Distilled Spirits Council. The former works to fight drunk driving and underage drinking whereas the latter works to maintain responsible practices for alcohol advertising and marketing.

The “We Don’t Serve Teens” campaign, established by the Federal Trade Commission to fight underage drinking, espouses that serving alcohol to teens is unsafe, irresponsible and illegal. The campaign has learned that most teens who drink obtain alcohol from older friends, family members, at parties, or at home without parental consent. The campaign provides useful information for talking to teens about underage drinking. They also indicate that parents and other adults have a strong influence on a teens’ decision to say “no” to alcohol.

Bacardi, working with its media partners, has acquired national exposure for the program using ad placements with six print and 22 online media partners. Bacardi has also released several public service announcements that appear on television in 49 different markets as well as billboard advertisements in 17 different markets. All media partners have signed-on to feature the campaign through December of 2009.

Rick Wilson, the senior vice president, external affairs for Bacardi U.S.A. has stated that, “Bacardi U.S.A. is dedicated to keeping our products away from those who are not of legal drinking age and we want teens and parents to know underage drinking is unacceptable, harmful and illegal. Most alcohol consumed by minors is found at the home and we’re confident educating parents on this and speaking to teens about making the right choices will help address underage drinking”.
For more information, visit www.dontserveteens.gov.

Last week, Bacardi U.S.A. spirits company made a gift of $51,000 to Tangelo Park Elementary School in Orange County, Fla.

Bacardi also donated art supplies to all the students

The funds came from Bacardi’s campaign Bacardi Cares and were accepted by the school’s principal Tashanda Brown-Cannon.

Brown-Cannon said the school will use the gift to upgrade technology in classrooms and replace cafeteria and classroom furniture.

The checks, one for $30,000 and another for about $21,000 were presented separately.

The school’s community partner in education, Harris Rosen, president of Rosen Hotels and Resort, was influential in contacting the Bacardi Corporation to help Tangelo Park Elementary in support of its motto “Excellence is the Only Option.”

Tangelo Park Elementary is located at 5115 Anzio St., Orlando, FL 32819 in Orange County.