While ambitious, the logic of our vision is quite simple: Alcohol is the most used drug in the world, always has been, probably always will be, and despite its many social benefits… it is inherently addictive and a toxin to the human body. Thus, our mission with Cheers® is promote the good of alcohol while mitigating the bad—both through the capabilities of our product and our messaging as a company.
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Just like someone puts a seatbelt on anytime they ride in a car, our vision is that Cheers® would be taken anytime someone consumes alcohol. One does not have to be driving irresponsibly to necessitate a seatbelt; and nor does having a seatbelt promote irresponsible driving because someone can worry less about personal injury. In fact, wearing a seatbelt is a marker of responsible driving. And in the same way, using Cheers® when consuming alcohol means a more responsible consumption of alcohol, not less.
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Another analogy for Cheers® could be that of using sunscreen. Just like one ought to use sunscreen to reduce the sun’s negative effect on skin when at the beach, someone should use Cheers® to reduce alcohol’s negative effects when consuming alcohol. In both the use of seatbelts and sunscreen, a person is making a responsible decision to safeguard human health in situations that are inherently a threat to it. Sure, someone could decide to never ride in a car or go to the beach, but what kind of life is that?
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And, the scope of Cheers®’s vision isn’t limited to a small subset of individuals. In fact, Cheers®’s vision affects the majority of Americans as nearly 60% of people in the United States consume alcohol monthly. Furthermore, nearly $200 billion dollars is spent in the US yearly and the Center for Disease Control estimates that the US economy loses $179 billion dollars a year due to alcohol’s negative effect on next-day workplace productivity alone. And when you look at alcohol’s prevalence in the global society, both in the present and throughout human history, its statistics are just as colossal in scale.
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Cheers® is not a hangover cure (to phrase it as such gives the wrong connotation). Rather, Cheers® is like sunscreen for alcohol. Cheers® is a way to reduce alcohol’s negative effects when exposed to alcohol and as a result has many positive effects on increasing human health, happiness, and next-day productivity. Like is already the case with sunscreen, we dream for the day when the responsible spouse yells at their significant other to “not forget to take their Cheers® before they go to bed”.
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Brooks Powell
Founder & CEO, Cheers®