Beer distributors take part in liquor store ‘Sticker Shock’
During April National Alcohol Awareness Month, youth and adult volunteers visited liquor retailers throughout the state. They posted Project Sticker Shock materials as a reminder to customers that providing alcohol to minors is illegal.
McHenry County initiated a pilot program this year with a new sticker, “Thank you for keeping our youth safe and not providing alcohol to minors.” If successful, the new sticker will be used throughout the state in the future.
“We want to ensure our product is sold and consumed lawfully and responsibly,” said Ted Stilling, vice president of Chas. Herdrich & Son Inc., a McHenry beer distributor. “We take the issue of underage sales seriously, which is why we are taking part in the project.”
“Our role as a beer distributor goes beyond keeping the store shelves stocked so consumers have choices,” said William Olson, president of Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois.” “These programs bring teens face-to-face with the realities involved in drinking alcohol and it allows parents and the community to get more involved in protecting their children.”
Since 2002, more than 400,000 ABDI Straight Talk About Underage Drinking flyers have been delivered to nearly 600 Illinois schools.
The flyers, available in English and Spanish, present information to teens on a variety of topics, including how alcohol slows your heart rate and decreases reflex responses, which greatly affect a person’s ability to drive, to debunking the myths that a cold shower or coffee will sober someone up. ABDI provides this educational tool to Illinois schools free of charge.
The ABDI is a not-for-profit business trade association which represents mostly family-owned independent distributors who provide customized delivery management for all retailers and to ensure products are delivered fresh and efficiently to restaurants, stores, and bars.
Distributors are part of Illinois’ state-based alcohol regulated system, licensed by the state of Illinois, to ensure that beer is sold only to licensed retailers who in turn are responsible for selling alcohol to adults of legal drinking age.
For more information, visit www.abdi.org.