This holiday season, a nationwide campaign is calling on Americans to do more than use a designated driver; it's also giving Americans a first-of-its-kind opportunity to thank the special people in their lives who volunteer as designated drivers.

By visiting www.designateddriver.com, adults 21 or older can send a free, personalized e-mail greeting card to their designated drivers through a partnership between Anheuser-Busch and Egreetings.com.

Also part of the thank-you campaign is the 2001 Budweiser Designated Driver Sweepstakes, which underscores the importance of choosing a designated driver this holiday season. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the number of drunk-driving fatalities has decreased 37 percent since 1982. According to a national survey released last week, 98 percent of American adults believe designated drivers help save lives.

The sweepstakes offers one lucky designated driver the chance to win a Budweiser Designated Driver Thank-You Card worth $20,000. In addition, 1,000 entrants have the chance to win Budweiser Designated Driver Thank-You Cards worth $25 each. These cards, from American Express Incentive Services, may be used like cash at bars, restaurants and stores all across the country wherever American Express is accepted. The sweepstakes runs until Jan. 1, 2002. Adults who are 21 years of age can enter and obtain rules for the sweepstakes by visiting www.designateddriver.com or by dialing 1-888-460-6464.

"When 122 million adults are committed to something, that's pretty powerful. The sweepstakes is our way of thanking America's designated drivers who are volunteering on an unprecedented scale to help ensure everyone gets home safely," said Francine Katz, vice president of Consumer Affairs, Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.

Sixty-two percent of those surveyed, or 122 million American adults, have been or used a designated driver. This rate has grown substantially from three years ago, when it was 109 million.

The survey also revealed a widespread endorsement of Oprah Winfrey as the celebrity whom respondents said they would choose as their designated driver. She came in first overall with 40 percent of the "vote" among men and women surveyed, as well as whites, African Americans and Hispanics, and in the Northeast, South, Midwest and West.

Data Development Corporation of Long Beach, California, conducted the designated driver survey. Telephone interviewing was conducted between August 27 and September 9, with a representative sample of 1,719 Americans 21 and older utilizing random digit dialing procedures. The results are projectable to the total continental U.S. population aged 21 and older. The margin of error due to sampling is plus/minus 2 percentage points.

Since 1982, Anheuser-Busch and its wholesalers have invested more than $370 million in alcohol awareness and education efforts to help fight underage drinking and drunk driving and to promote personal responsibility. For more information on these efforts and the progress being made, visit www.beeresponsible.com.

There is no purchase necessary to enter the Budweiser Designated Driver Sweepstakes. Entrants must be 21 years of age or older. The sweepstakes is open to all legal residents of the United States and Puerto Rico, except California. Entrants must have had internet access as of November 15, 2001. The sweepstakes ends January 1, 2002. See official sweepstakes rules for details.