Responsible Drinking

We fully accept that alcohol, when abused or misused, carries with it the potential for contributing to, or exacerbating, social and health problems. But our fundamental belief is that beverage alcohol also plays an important part in enriching the lives of the vast majority of those who choose to drink. This is why we promote our brands in a way that encourages responsible consumption. And it is the reason we discourage irresponsible drinking, especially drunk driving¹, and work to prevent illegal drinking by those who are underage.

We have developed a multifaceted strategy and program – we call it Our Thinking About Drinking – to encourage responsibility across all aspects of our business and to explore the opportunities that emerge when we play an even more direct role in combating misuse and abuse. We are increasing our understanding of how best to achieve this goal.

While we have a long history of social responsibility, Our Thinking About Drinking strategy – as an integrated program – is relatively new to Brown-Forman and we have spent considerable effort making sure that our priorities and direction for it are clear. Now is the time for turning this strategy into action, working closely with our employees, customers, policymakers, consumers, and others. We are eager to take a more active role in the debate on alcohol issues.

We have a three-pronged approach to the task:

• » Market our products responsibly

  We do this primarily by following industry and Brown-Forman guidelines on marketing, advertising, and promotion.

• » Encourage responsible consumption

  We see our brands – and our brand-building capabilities – as the main channel for our efforts to urge moderation among our consumers.

• » Combat the harmful effects of alcohol misuse and abuse, particularly underage drinking and drunk driving

  We believe our brands can be an effective vehicle to tackle drunk driving, and we work on our own and with others to get the message across. We do not want people under the legal drinking age consuming our brands, and we partner with others to educate, raise awareness and discourage underage drinking.

We develop our own initiatives and work with others in our industry, such as:

• The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Inc. (DISCUS)
• The Century Council in the U.S.
• The International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP)
• The Centre for Information on Beverage Alcohol (CBA)
• The European Forum for Responsible Drinking (EFRD)
• The Portman Group in the U.K.
• The Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia (DSICA)
• Drinkwise Australia
• Drinkaware in the U.K. and Ireland
• The European Spirits Organization (CEPS)
• The Polish Vodka Association (PVA)
• The Hungarian Association for Responsible Alcohol Consumption (HAFRAC).

Doing More

We aim to be more proactive in the debate about alcohol issues. One of our actions has been to create Our Thinking About Drinking: The Issues Forum where critical alcohol issues can be explored in greater depth. The Forum provides information and research into various alcohol topics, offers Brown-Forman's perspective and position as well as a chance to engage in a dialogue with experts and other stakeholders.

The companion publication to this website, On Being Responsible, is primarily focused on alcohol issues and our efforts to tackle them. It describes Our Thinking About Drinking strategy in detail.

1. Also refers to 'drink driving' outside the U.S.