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Jelly Belly, Drive Safely

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Jelly Belly, Drive Safely. Say what? You might be wondering how those two different phrases are related to each other. Well, you’re not alone. When I received the invite from GeiserMaclang to an event recently, I asked the same question.

It only made sense to me when I attended the media launch of A License to Drink and Drive: The Jelly Belly Campaign for Responsible Drinking. Spearheaded by Candy Corner,the country’s leading confectionery retail outlet chain, in cooperation with the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP), the campaign aims to educate more Filipinos on responsible drinking by giving alcohol drinkers an aternative way to enjoy a party without having to drink a lot. Or better yet, without having to drink alcoholic beverages at all. Uhm, that may sound a little bit too kill-joy, but it does make sense. How? The Jelly Belly Mocktails!

With the more than a hundred (101 to be exact) flavors of Jelly Belly, makers of the world’s best jelly beans,this is possible. The alcohol-inspired flavors (like Margarita, Strawberry Daiquiri, Pina Colada, etc.), mixed with the numerous choices of fruit (Mango, Watermelon, Plum, Blueberry, Cantaloupe, etc.) and food-inspired (Toasted Marshmallows, Buttered Popcorn, Peanut Butter, Jalapeno, Strawberry cheesecake, Smoothie Flavors,Cafe Latte, etc) will surely burst out the goodness of mind-blowing cocktails! The good thing about this is that you don’t necessarily have to include alcohol in the recipe. And when you’re in a club or in a bar, you wouldn’t wanna get caught dead drinking just plain iced tea or orange juice, would you? I wouldn’t.

If you don’t drive, then why should you worry about drinking to your heart’s (and liver’s) content, right? Well according to the World Health Organization, 12% of Filipinos are heavy and hazardous drinkers. And yearly, more than two million bystanders are reported to have been injured because of road-related mishaps.

Then again, we also don’t want to discount the fact that the reason most of us drink is because we get a buzz (or more) from it, and I’m not, as I’m sure you aren’t either, ready to give that up just yet (or ever). Drinking is good for the soul. These mocktails actually give us a different kind of buzz, the buzz that makes us giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up, let’s go — sugar buzz!

These drinks are not available in clubs and bars — yet.There are recipe books available online (http://www.candycorneronline.com and http://jellybelly.com) for these mixes and you can make these mocktails at the comfort of your own home. But it sure would be nice if bars and clubs offered these kinds of drinks, would it?

Now I understand how Jelly Belly helps us all Drive Safely! Come on everybody, it’s time to party!