Miriam Mullins takes the wheel for Coca-Cola’s Designated Driver campaign

For the 19th year in a row, Coca-Cola HBC’s Designated Driver campaign is back to reward those drivers who get loved ones home safely after a night out. With a 27% increase in deaths on our roads so far this year, planning your route home and potentially being the Designated Driver has never been more important.

To reward those unsung heroes of Christmas who gift their friends a lift, the Coca-Cola Designated Driver is back in over 284 participating venues across Ireland. Drivers can grab two soft drinks from the Coca-Cola range for free, by simply making themselves known to bar staff!

To help get the message out, radio presenter and influencer Miriam Mullins has joined the campaign. With 25% of fatalities on the roads in Ireland aged 24 – 30 between January – August 2023, Miriam hopes to drive the Designated Driver message home to young people across the island.

Speaking at the launch of the Coca-Cola Designated Driver campaign, Minister of State at the Department of Transport and at the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, Jack Chambers, TD, said: "I’m delighted to launch the 19th Designated Driver campaign. After many years of making progress reducing road deaths and making our roads safer, we have seen a really concerning trend in recent years and 2023 has proven to be an incredibly tragic year on our roads. Unfortunately, 165 deaths have occurred on our roads already this year, an increase from 130 in the same period in 2022. We are doing everything we can to reduce road deaths and prevent further tragedies from devastating families, friends and communities. The Designated Driver campaign encourages safe behaviour, recognises that staying sober should be celebrated and rewards those that get their loved ones home safe.”

Speaking on behalf of Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland, Davide Franzetti, General Manager said: “I am incredibly proud that we are marking 19 years of the Coca-Cola Designated Driver campaign of rewarding safe drivers and of partnering with our incredible customers in the hospitality industry who make this initiative possible. This is my first time seeing the initiative in action and I am looking forward to playing my part and being a Coca-Cola Designated Driver over the Christmas period. I want to thank our partners, the Minister, An Garda Síochána, the RSA, the hospitality industry and our ambassador Miriam for getting this important message to people across the island.”

Broadcaster, content creator, and Coca-Cola Ambassador Miriam Mullins said, “I am so excited to be celebrating the real Christmas heroes, our Designated Drivers alongside Coca-Cola. We all love celebrating with our friends over Christmas and there is no better way to finish a night out than getting that message to say a friend is home safe. I hope I can do a small part to get the message out to encourage everyone to be a Designated Driver with Coca-Cola this Christmas”.

Designated Driver is supported by the Department of Transport, the Road Safety Authority, An Garda Síochána, Drinkaware, Licenced Vintners Federation, Vintners Federation of Ireland, Irish Hotels Federation and Restaurants Association of Ireland in the Republic of Ireland.

Designated Driver will also run in Northern Ireland for the 15th year with social media star and disability activist, India Sasha acting as our ambassador. The initiative is supported by the PSNI, Northern Irelands’ Department of Infrastructure (Road to Zero), NI Hotel Federation and Hospitality Ulster in Northern Ireland.

Designated drivers can avail of the two free soft drinks from the Coca-Cola range by simply making themselves known to bar staff at participating venues. Drinks from the range include Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Fanta, Sprite, Deep RiverRock and Fruice.

Designated Drivers can download the Coca-Cola App to find out more about Coca-Cola’s participating venues.