“Whenever you go out drinking, you are in a very vulnerable position, and that’s one of the reasons I really got behind Drunk Mode. I saw the potential to help some folks,” said Jake Ellenburg, Drunk Mode’s chief marketing officer and junior public relations major.
Thanks to Ellenburg’s work promoting the app, Drunk Mode has increased its presence on social media and is projected to hit one million users this month. Students at he University of Alabama have caught on. One in 20 students have downloaded the app.
“We all have that friend who tries to wander off when they are drinking. I like Drunk Mode because, even if I’m in a big group, I feel like I can still take care of everyone at the end of the night,” said Emily Ellis, a junior majoring in accounting.
Drunk Mode has several features including an option to block drunk dialing, the ability to connect with other users and track their locations and a GPS to recognize where users went the night before. This allows people to track their friends, make sure everyone in their group got home safely and even find items that may have gone missing the night before.
“The UK Telegraph called us ‘the condom for your phone’ because it helps you not make dumb mistakes. Last week we made Drunk Mode condoms and gave them out on the quad until UA told us to leave,” said Ellenburg.
The app is constantly improving and trying to combine safety and socializing into one place. Soon users will be able to enter a list of emergency contacts and hit a panic button that will alert those people if the user is in trouble. The app will also be implementing a hotspot feature that will show where the most Drunk Mode users have gathered, so users will always know where the party is happening.
“We have seen some negative comments,” Ellenburg said. “Some older lady commented, ‘This is outrageous!’ Yes, it is called Drunk Mode, but if you look and see what we do, we are trying to help your kids. Your kids are going to drink, lady. We are just trying to make them be safer while they do it.”
With growing concerns about safety on college campuses, Drunk Mode aims to make students feel safer while still having fun. It even gives users the option to get an Uber or find a ride home in areas where those services are available. Drunk Mode has everything for those who love to party but want to minimize the number of regrets the next day.
“Download it, because there is something that you’ll like, and if there’s not, we are probably going to be adding it soon,” Ellenburg said.
