Alcohol Awareness Month 2009 launched in a spectacular and impactful way

On April 1st 2009, during their annual Proclamation Ceremony on the Steps of City Hall, CADA – Encouraging Responsible Alcohol Behavior, took the opportunity to make an unprecedented and somewhat shocking statement.

Known for their ability to make high impact visual statements during Alcohol Awareness Month, CADA this year, made the decision to have 13 caskets laid out on the steps of City Hall to represent 70% of the 17 road fatalities in Bermuda last year. Statistics show that 70% of all deaths on Bermuda’s roads involve drugs and or alcohol.

CADA Chairman, Anthony Santucci said, “When we came up with the idea of the caskets there were people we talked to who were uncomfortable with the idea. That is our objective. We have to be uncomfortable with the idea that our citizens are dying in unprecedented numbers.”

Mr. Santucci continued, “We cannot accept 21 deaths in 15 months with any level of comfort. It has to make us uncomfortable and through this discomfort we must come together and do something concrete and say enough is enough.

“We cannot abdicate our personal responsibility in this process. We each have to make a commitment not to drink and drive. And if you see or hear someone who has been drinking and is going to be reckless enough to drive or ride, we each have a responsibility to take their keys, call them a cab, or take them home. It is best the person is stopped at all cost rather than to have them die in a senseless and purely preventable drinking and driving fatality.”

During the Proclamation Ceremony, CADA also took the opportunity to introduce their new brand. They are no longer CADA – The Centre for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention. They are now CADA – Encouraging Responsible Alcohol Behavior.

Mr. Santucci added, “The look you saw today on our banner, the sign on the podium, and the design of our tee shirts is what will represent CADA for the foreseeable future. We are no longer the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention. We are simply CADA and our tagline is Encouraging Responsible Alcohol Behavior.”

Mr. Santucci went on to say, “After doing brand research and development we created a tagline with a look and feel which, as a Board, we feel represents who we are becoming as an organization. So when you think CADA, remember – Encouraging Responsible Alcohol Behavior.”

CADA has a month of activities planned, more information can be found on their website, cada.bm