The Newest Punishment for Driving Drunk

What can be worse than losing your license for a year? Driving while intoxicated carries a criminal charge and massive fine, but police officers can also make your ride to the station a miserable experience. To hell with releasing the kraken; one Canadian police department unleashes the Kroeger! 

How you remind me
In a recent Facebook post, the Kensington police of Prince Edward Island made a bold statement to all drunk drivers this holiday season. They proclaimed that, in addition to legal repercussions, offenders would receive "the bonus gift of [listening to their] copy of Nickelback in the cruiser on the way to jail." In an attempt to bring awareness to the effects of drinking and driving, the Kensington police used humor to broach the topic. The post went viral, reported on by news outlets from CNN to TMZ, and achieved international notoriety with its anti-DUI message. And although police managed to jump start a dialogue on the subject, they did so at a cost to their reputation.

What I really am
Nickelback must know by now that they dominate the list of Canadian artists we love to hate. We resent their generic rock melodies, because the quality does not seem to correlate with their success. In a Rolling Stones readers' poll, Nickelback appears second on a list of the worst bands from the nineties. They lost first place to Creed, a band that sounds and looks identical to the Alberta foursome. 

It's not like you to say sorry
The band felt embarrassed by the joke's implications and demanded police remove it from Facebook. Kensington police, understanding how the quip could be perceived as bullying and recognizing how it overshadowed the underlying message, complied and issued an apology. Constable Robb Hartlen explains, "How would I tell my son he was wrong for picking on a kid in the playground when I was doing the same thing...on a global scale." Interesting enough, he asks forgiveness from Nickelback as individuals but skirts around apologizing to the band's artistic integrity. Was the omission unintentional, or should we applaud the department's veiled sass?

Is there a punishment worse than Nickelback? Share your ideas in the comments!