It's one of those things that highlights how hard it is to have a great idea. The UK-based real ale advocacy group CAMRA has just launched its 2009 Good Beer Guide, a guide of the best pubs in the UK according to CAMRA's strict criteria. In a stroke of genius they have created a sat-nav version that allows you to download the 4500+ recommended pubs into your TomTom, Garmin and Navman sat-nav systems which then enables you to get directions to each one of those pubs. Sounds like a great idea? Of course it does, but the UK road safety charity Brake has come out and criticised the move saying it encourages drink driving.
You have to be sympathetic to their arguments. I mean, these devices are generally meant to be used in a car and it's definitely not a good idea to drink drive, but then again - the mere fact of driving to the pub doesn't mean that you are going to drink and drive. Still it is a tough one...the solution if you were in the UK is to download the mobile version and walk to the pub with your mobile phone leading the way....
The issue shows the very difficult time that beer is having at the moment as society grapples with binge drinking issues. The Otago District Health Board in New Zealand is in trouble at the moment because they are offering a free beer to expatriate health professionals at the Speight's Southerner bar in London as part of its advertising campaign to entice them home. The local Public Health Association says that with thousands of national health dollars were being spent to address New Zealand's problematic drinking culture the board associating itself with Speight's is questionable.
Again, you can see the conflict - but does one beer constitute a health risk?
Personally, I see greater conflict in breweries that do the small things like adding "drink responsibly" logos to their website and making you negotiate the pointless "tell us how old you are" questions while promoting beers that are designed to be "sessional" (ie drunk in great quantity), offering turnover discounts to pubs in a way that provides a financial incentive to the pubs to sell it in great quantity - not necessarily to more people. "Sessional lager" beers are a volume game - the breweries need to sell them in great quantities to be profitable and so they are designed to be easily drunk in volume.
My motto is "drink less, drink better". Drink fewer beers but enjoy them more...