In the 1980s, Jay Winsten, a professor at Harvard, had learned about a program in Scandinavian countries called the "designated driver." At the time, nobody in the U.S. knew what a designated driver was.

Winsten and his team wanted to change the way people behaved in regard to social drinking. So Winsten started to influence people's thoughts by regularly exposing people to the idea of the designated driver—even if it was just a brief exposure. He collaborated with producers, writers, and actors from more than 160 prime-time TV shows to insert designated driver moments into the plot. Segments featuring designated driver spots appeared on The Cosby Show, Who's the Boss?, and Cheers—to name just a few shows. In one episode of L.A. Law, the heartthrob lawyer asked a bartender to call his "designated driver." Winsten always requested a mere five seconds of dialogue focused on the idea.

The results were remarkable. By 1991, three years after the campaign had launched, 90 percent of poll respondents were familiar with the term designated driver, 37 percent of Americans reported having acted as designated drivers, and over half of frequent drinkers had used a designated driver.

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Bible reading; Meditation; Renewal of the Mind—This story shows how even short but repeated exposure to ideas can influence thinking and behavior. (2) Media—For better or worse, it also shows how much media can influence our thinking and behavior. (3) Leadership; Vision—Shows the need to cast vision and mission on a regular basis.