As MADD executive director Chuck Hurley describes it, “Before the 1980s, drunk driving was how people got home. It was normal behavior.” In May of that year, Candy Lightner's 13-year-old daughter was killed by a hit-and-run driver while walking to a church carnival. As her mother was soon to learn, drunk driving was just not on society's radar as an issue. Although 60 percent of automobile deaths were alcohol related, drunk driving was a low priority for law enforcement and the courts. Congress had spent $35 million on Alcohol Safety Action Programs, with little effect. After her daughter's death, Candy Lightner established Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), determined to change society's attitude and behavior as well as the law.

She found other victims’ families through classified ads and mailings, learned about California laws and lobbied the governor for new legislation, made speeches, and raised money. In October of 1980, MADD held a news conference on Capitol Hill that captured the nation's attention. Other mothers began establishing chapters in their hometowns and the organization grew rapidly, with 100 chapters in place by 1982.

Mothers shared their grief and the stories of their loved ones who had been killed or injured by drunk driving, putting human faces on the issue. MADD lobbied in state legislatures and at the federal level.

President Ronald Reagan established a Presidential Commission on Drunk Driving, and Congress passed legislation denying federal highway funds to states that did not pass strict drunk-driving laws. A national law establishing a uniform drinking age was passed in 1984............

Questions
1. Are MADD's activities advocacy or lobbying or both? If both, which activities fit each definition?
2. How does the case of MADD reflect the stages described in Box 11.1?
3. Think back on (or re-read) the discussion of marketing in Chapter 10. Which principles from that chapter seem most relevant to the case of MADD?