• by Larissa Faw , January 5, 2015

Industry veterans Chris Aguirre, a former creative director at agencies such as Zipatoni, idea/mob, Momentum, Brand Affairs Dept. and Jeff Stevens, current chief creative officer at the Creative Producers Group in St. Louis, have used their talents to sell good times fueled with booze and beer.

Both Aguirre and Stevens spent many years working on brands like Rolling Rock, Miller Genuine Draft, Woodford Reserve Whiskey and Anheuser Busch’s complete portfolio.

Now, they are utilizing this advertising and marketing experience to help others by launching Klen + Sobr (pronounced clean and sober) a multimedia platform that supports people in all stages of recovery from substance abuse.  

“There’s still a lot of misunderstanding and stigma attached to addiction and, to a large degree, recovery,” said Aguirre. “I want others to know there’s no shame in having this thing we have. Sobriety and recovery should be celebrated and supported."

The concept's outreach includes abstinence, sobriety and recovery and has grown organically since its launch seven months ago. The cornerstone of the initiative is The Since Right Now Podcast, a weekly podcast, which is supported with social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr, and a Web site, www.sincerightnow.com.

In the coming months, Klen + Sobr will introduce a Web series focused on a halfway house. Aguirre also will host a local Tweetup featuring a live remote episode of the podcast in the early spring. Looking forward, there are plans to launch a pop-up dry bar on Friday or Saturday nights in St. Louis.

Twitter has proven to be particularly useful in this addiction recovery-focused endeavor. In December, Aguirre credits the platform with helping him to save a user from committing suicide. "We’re each in a different state, don’t know each other's names," says Aguirre. "We kept him tweeting while I called the police in his small North Dakota town and gave them all the info on him I could put together from his twitter profile."

Aguirre hasn't entirely given up his day job -- he continues to be active in advertising through freelance work.