“Beer is now cheaper than gas—drink, don’t drive”

“Beer is now cheaper than gas—drink, don’t drive” is a jocular saying that has been printed on many gift items, such as T-shirts, posters and bumper stickers. According to a 2008 post on the website Brew City, “Beer, Now Cheaper than Gas” was a T-shirt saying in 1998 (when gas was $1.50-$2.00 a gallon) and “Drink, Don’t Drive” was added in 2005.
 
   
Rod Building Forum
Larry S
Sep 4 2005, 07:16 PM
(...)
Now that beer is cheaper than gas why not have another beer
     
mingle2
Topic: T-Shirt - Quotes
TxsGal3333
Fri 10/27/06 03:14 PM
(...)
Beer Now Cheaper than Gas Drink, Don’t Drive.
 
19 March 2008, Times-Mail (Bedford & Lawrence County, IN), “Everybody’s Talkin’: Free stix” by Mike Ricketts:
I won’t revisit the entire diatribe, but I will pass along the opening line of the e- mail: “Beer now cheaper than gasoline. Drink ... don’t drive.”
 
SofaKingDrunk.com 
Beer Fact of the Day, 2008 Beer Fact
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Beer Fact as of May 29th, 2008
Beer is now officially cheaper than Gasoline. Drink, don’t drive.
   
Redlands (CA) Daily Facts 
Diamond lane still a no-no
Michelle Pearl, Correspondent
Posted:  07/06/2008 07:46:14 PM PDT
(...)
Spotted this bumper sticker that made me chuckle: BEER - Now cheaper than gas. Drink. Don’t Drive.
 
Brew City
Beer, Now Cheaper than Gas!
Published July 19, 2008
This t-shirt design has a funny history, and maybe a lesson attached to it! Well, my brother George came up with a tagline which said, “Beer, Now Cheaper than Gas.” Sounds timely, right? The only thing is, we came up with it in 1998, when gas was hitting $1.50-2.00/gallon. We had a t-shirt booth at Milwaukee’s Summerfest, and we put it out quickly, simply using red stencil lettering on a gray t. It sold well, but gas prices dropped slightly, and we in turn, dropped the design from our retail line, and that was that.
 
Well, in March of 2005, when I was getting designs ready for Summerfest, I came across George’s design, and realized that gas prices were going up for summer again, and there was some press about it. So, I re-designed the shirt, making a simple retro beer label in 2-colors with an old gas nozzle illustration. I actually tried to make it a bit gaudy, using yellow and brown ink, and leaving it on a simple white shirt. At the very end, I thought the design needed a little tagline, like some beer advertising would have, so I added, “Drink, Don’t Drive.”
   
Google Books
1,000 Things to Love About America:
Celebrating the Reasons We’re Proud to U.S.A. Home
By Brent Bowers, Barbara Bowers, Henry Gottlieb and Agnes Gottlieb
New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers
2010
Pg. 179:
Bumper Stickers: Your car makes a statement. In Europe, bumper stickers identify the vehicle’s country of origin, but here in the United States we want the entire highway to know exactly what we think.  Our favorites: BEER IS NOW CHEAPER THAN GAS. DRINK! DON’T DRIVE; ...