In order to prevent underage drinking in Gwinnett County, one effective strategy we use is a Warning Glass Cling campaign.
By implementing this campaign, we remind adults that it’s illegal to provide alcohol to minors and in turn, we help reduce retail access of alcohol among teens. To accomplish this, we change the physical design of businesses that sell alcohol by displaying warning glass clings on glass entrance doors and cooler doors that contain alcoholic beverages. The messages highlight the consequences of providing alcohol to minors, which include a fine of up to $1,000 and/or up to 30 days in jail.
Since 2014, over 80 alcohol retailers in Gwinnett County have participated in this campaign and have placed clings in their store or restaurant. This would not have been possible without our partnership with the Gwinnett County Department of Licensing and Revenue and help from various volunteers and our Youth Advisory Board.
Every month, the Department of Licensing and Revenue distributes clings to retailers when they renew or receive their alcohol license. Our adult volunteers and Youth Advisory Board members have helped recruit retailers to participate in the campaign and have tracked stores over time to see if the clings continue to be displayed.
If you are looking for a new project for your organization or Youth Action Team, this campaign is a great way to help prevent underage drinking and encourage youth to practice their leadership and communication skills.
Follow these steps to conduct your own campaign:
- Develop, create and order your warning glass clings.
- Identify alcohol retailers in your community and decide how many you will ask to participate in the campaign. Alcohol retailers can include gas stations, grocery stores, convenience stores, drug stores, restaurants, taverns and liquor/package stores.
- Develop a plan and a schedule for contacting and visiting each store.
- Keep track of the vendors you contact and their responses. The manager is usually the one to approve the campaign.
- Contact the participating stores a week ahead of time to remind them that you are coming.
- Make sure you have enough glass clings for the stores. On average, you will need two to six clings in each of your target languages (e.g., English and Spanish) per store. It may be helpful to make a kit (a box with a micro-fiber towel, glass cleaner and glass clings) to take with you.
- Place glass clings in areas approved by the store manager. Youth under 21 must be supervised by adults at all times. If packages must be moved to post materials, only adults over the age of 21 and/or store employees should handle the alcohol.
- Offer to leave any leftover materials with the store manager if they wish to place more clings on their own.
- Keep track of the number of clings placed in each store and take pictures!
- After you have finished placing clings in a store, ask the store owner or manager to fill out a quick survey.
- Be sure to thank everyone who participated, including the store owner or manager and other volunteers.
- Debrief with your team or staff after the campaign is over about what you were able to accomplish and what could be improved in the future.
- Check on the stores two to three months later to get feedback on the campaign and to see if you need to replace any clings.
Don’t forget to highlight your campaign and community impact by sharing pictures, the number of volunteers and retailers who participated and your results in an online newsletter or local newspapers!
These types of projects take time to plan and implement. In order to be successful, we recommend you start the planning process at least three months before the campaign begins. Also, if you are involving youth in recruiting retailers to participate in the campaign, give them time to practice their script with each other, by role playing and getting feedback, prior to meeting with a retailer.
By implementing this campaign, know that you are making a difference in your community. Have fun and let us know how it goes!
RESOURCE DOWNLOAD: Warning Glass Cling Campaign Packet