"Shaquille O'Neal, Godfrey and The Century Council tell Students to 'Watch Yourself' When Binge Drinking" (2754 hits)
In 2012, Shaquille O’Neal (Shaq) partnered with The Century Council to fight binge drinking on college campuses around the country. Shaq worked alongside college students to create a series of videos, which addresses the serious issues of binge drinking among students. In October of 2012, Shaq and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) presented research at an event on Capitol Hill that discussed the differences in drinking behaviors on HBCU campuses compared to non-HBCU campuses.
Since then, Shaq has been working with The Century Council to come up with innovative ideas that would strike a chord with students on HBCU campuses. The winning idea was to have Godfrey the Comedian (a friend of Shaq and co-host of ‘Upload with Shaquille O’Neal’ on Tru TV) record a standup routine talking about the foolishness of binge drinking. Using humor to address a very serious subject, these standup videos can be found on The Century Council’s YouTube page, online in advertisements, in HBCU campus newspapers, and on television stations in select markets.
College students believe they are adults and demand to be treated as such. They do not wish to be talked down to or hear other adults preaching to them. Godfrey’s message empowers college students to reconsider their dangerous drinking behaviors and, quite simply, “Watch Yourself.”
