Coffee Sleeves Spread Seasonal Message

Source: Lake Stevens Journal

It’s the most celebratory time of the year. The good cheer flows from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve. This only means one thing: the departments of transportation from every state are getting ready to meet and greet you on the nation’s streets and highways.

This year – as in years past – at least one state is also enlisting the aid of our favorite beverage. Once again, the health benefits of coffee are in demand; it’s the holiday drink that can save your life on the road. Law enforcement in Washington encourages drinking coffee and driving. Officials are banking on the fact that drivers will stop at roadside coffee stands, so they’re distributing coffee sleeves bearing holiday messages to the stands.

While not the traditional holiday messages, they are certainly to the point. In Washington’s Snohomish County, the sleeves will picture a half taxi, half patrol car with the message “Choose Your Ride”. The text says “Do not DRINK and DRIVE” with the D.I.E. emphasized. Down in southern Washington’s Cowlitz county, the message is different. With more text and without graphics, it will state: “WAKE UP and SMELL THE COFFEE!!! Drunk driving is against the law. Extra DUI patrols on NOW in Cowlitz County.”

So far, Washington state is the only state – according to a Google search - that has announced such a plan intended to save lives over the December holiday season. Maybe it has something to do with being such a coffee focused region. In fact, back in February some suggested that coffee be anointed the official state beverage. That still hasn’t happened, but that hasn’t stopped the promotion of coffee as the life saver on the highways.

If you live in Snohomish or Cowlitz counties of Washington, you should be able to pick up a coffee dressed in one of these sleeves after mid-month. Wherever you live, the message is timeless. Never drink and drive, unless coffee is the drink.

And speaking of Washington, below are coffees from three of the state’s roasters.