The Michael Andretti Foundation, Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. and Canadian Club(R)...

DETROIT -- Michael Andretti, former race car driver and co-owner of Andretti Green Racing, joined forces today with Detroit community leaders and Canadian Club(R) Whisky to launch a public awareness campaign designed to prevent underage drinking and discourage

adults from providing alcohol to minors. This effort is centered around a program developed by The Century Council, a national not-for-profit organization funded by America's leading distillers and dedicated to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking. The program seeks to educate adults about how youth access alcohol and provides tips on how they can play an active role in helping to discourage and prevent illegal, underage drinking. Up to 1.2 million tip cards will be provided to liquor stores throughout the state where they will be distributed at the point of sale.

Based on survey data showing that 65% of youth who drink obtain alcohol from their family and friends, The Century Council named their campaign "65%." Components of the campaign include a 30-second Public Service Announcement (PSA) and buttons and informational tip cards in English and Spanish. The tips for parents include:

--be a good role model

--disapprove of underage drinking

--supervise your child including their online activities

--reinforce that underage drinking is against the law.

"Canadian Club and Beam Global Spirits & Wine are committed to marketing our products responsibly and standing on the front lines to combat underage drinking," said Dennis Prado, Canadian Club senior director. "We want our products to be enjoyed in moderation and responsibly by a legal, drinking age, adult consumer only. It takes a comprehensive community effort to eliminate illegal, underage drinking. Our industry, federal, state and local governments, educators and parents need to work together and we are glad to bring many of these entities together in Detroit today to raise awareness about how we can join forces to succeed."

Beam Global Spirits & Wine donated $100,000 on behalf of Canadian Club to The Michael Andretti Foundation to support The Century Council program. The money will go towards the production and distribution of 1.2 million tip cards to Detroit parents and adults. National Wine & Spirits will distribute the materials to over 1,000 beverage retailers in Michigan.

"I am honored to be affiliated with Beam Global Spirits & Wine and Canadian Club, a company that places such a high priority on keeping our nation's youth safe and alcohol free," said Michael Andretti. "The Michael Andretti Foundation is proud to bring awareness to the critical role that adults play in preventing illegal, underage drinking," continued Andretti.

Jim Storey of the Michigan Liquor Control Commission stated, "Survey after survey shows overwhelmingly that kids identified their parents as the leading influence in their decision not to drink at all or not to drink on occasion. Parents should be encouraged by this news. It means their kids are listening. Parents now need to be empowered by this information and continue to talk with their kids about the dangers of underage drinking."

"We are proud to help facilitate distribution of the tip cards in Detroit as an effort to encourage adults to talk to youth about the dangers of underage drinking," said Brian Pizzuti, National Wine & Spirits. "Over 30 percent of 12-20 year olds reported alcohol consumption in the past month in Michigan. The goal is to encourage parents to communicate with their teens about the dangers of underage drinking as they head into summer vacation and throughout the school year."

"This is another positive step that the community can take to fight underage drinking," stated Deputy Chief John Jandasec of the Livonia Police Department. "We have a duty to protect our youth and this campaign will help educate parents about the reality of where teens obtain alcohol."

Sergeant Jeff Teeter of the Livonia Police Department added, "Last year in Michigan, 812 youths under the age of 18 were arrested for driving under the influence, 5,071 youths were arrested for liquor law violations, and 16 youths were arrested for drunkenness. We will be working aggressively over the summer and throughout the school year to keep alcohol out of our local teens' hands."

"Fighting drunk driving and underage drinking is absolutely a community effort," said Sam Shoukri of Showerman's Fine Wine and Liquor. "Restaurants, wholesalers, retailers - all of us - need to play a role in the fight against underage drinking, to lower, and hopefully eliminate, underage drinking in Michigan."

The Century Council will distribute the public service announcements to television stations that serve Detroit and has launched the campaign in over 80 other cities nationwide. The campaign will continue to be rolled out in cities across the country through 2006.

About the survey

The Century Council commissioned Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU) to conduct a self-administered online omnibus survey, Omnibuzz(TM), among 1,100 8 to 18 year olds May 14-21, 2003. For the purpose of The Century Council's research, a skip pattern was utilized to interview 974 youth between the ages of 10 and 18. The data were weighted for key demographic variables (gender, age, ethnicity, parent education, region and community-type of place of school) to reflect the national population. The margin of error for a sample this size is + 3.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. That is, if this survey were to be replicated 100 times, in 95 instances the results would be within four percentage points of the data reported here. Wirthlin Worldwide conducted two national omnibus surveys, of 1,000 adults, 18 years of age or older in the contiguous United States (each wave). Telephone interviews were conducted May 9-12, 2003 and May 30-June 2, 2003 using a Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) system. The CATI system uses a random digit dialing (RDD) sampling method that insures a true random selection among all telephone numbers and provides a truly independent sample for each wave. The data are weighted on an individual multi-dimensional basis (age, gender, ethnicity, income and region) to give appropriate representation of the U.S. national population. For the purposes of The Century Council's research, The Council participated in two waves of the omnibus survey to collect data from 659 parents and/or guardians of children 18 year old and younger. The margin of error for the parent sample is + 3.8 percent at the 95 percent confidence level and + 2.2 for the full sample of adults. That is, if this survey were to be replicated that the true values will fall within four percentage points of the results shown here for parents and two percentage points for the full adult sample.

About Beam Global Spirits & Wine

Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. is the fourth largest spirits company in the world. With nine of the world's top-100 premium spirits in its portfolio, the company's brands hold global and national leadership positions in key categories, including Jim Beam(R) bourbon; Canadian Club(R) Canadian whisky; Courvoisier(R) cognac; Laphroaig(R) Scotch; Sauza(R) tequila; Larios(R) gin; Whisky DYC(R); Teacher's(R) Scotch; and DeKuyper(R) cordials. The portfolio also includes Maker's Mark(R) bourbon, Knob Creek(R) bourbon and The Small Batch Bourbon Collection(R), and Starbucks(TM) Liqueurs. Beam Wine Estates is a top-five super-premium wine company in the U.S., featuring Clos du Bois(R), the number two super-premium U.S. wine brand, and the award-winning Geyser Peak(R) wine. Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. is part of Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE:FO), a $7 billion leading consumer brands company. For more information on Beam Global Spirits & Wine and the company's sales and distribution partners, please visit www.beamglobal.com.

Canadian Club(R) Blended Canadian Whisky, 40% alc./vol.
          (C)2006 Canadian Club Import Company, Deerfield, IL
                            drink smart(R)