Happy hours have been around for a long time, plying customers with drink specials early in the evening to fill pub stools. Some recession-minded bars in Orlando recently took that concept a step further -- offering two hours of free drinks to anyone who came by.

"We've decided, because of the economic times, we would open up the streets and make the open bar more of an open bar," said Adam Lambert, one of the organizers of a street party where bars served customers free for two hours. One patron called the promotion "very smart, because, I mean, everybody can use a free drink every now and then."

Cops weren't entirely keen on the idea of a free drinks free-for-all, but noted that there had been a decrease in traffic to the bars recently. "I think that kind of shows how bad it is that they would have to do something like this," said Lt. Sue Brown of the Orlando Police Department.

Question Raised: Do you think these bars will see more paying business after getting everyone goosed on freebies?