Liquor Industry Plan for ‘Spirits Coolers’ Ads on TV Gets Icy Reception

Did you ever notice that Mean Joe Greene belted down a bottle of Coke in those famous commercials, and not, say, Beefeater gin? Or wonder why, when you turn on the television, you never see ads for Smirnoff vodka or Seagram’s 7 Crown?

While Spuds McKenzie can bark about beer and Bartles & Jaymes can shoot the breeze about wine, advertisements for liquor have long been effectively banned on radio and television.

Technically, there’s no law against such advertising. But that’s mostly because, for more than five decades, manufacturers have agreed not to broadcast advertisements for spirits of any kind. But all that changed last November.

That’s when members of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States Inc., the industry’s self-governing body, met in Washington and revised their so-called Code of Good Practice. Key among the changes was the industry’s decision to permit television advertising for “spirits coolers” that contain no more than 7% alcohol by volume.

These drinks have the same alcohol content as a wine cooler, but they are made from rum, a distilled spirit, instead of wine.

This may not sound like a very big deal. But to the manufacturers--who have seen the sales of spirits decline for three consecutive years--it is a huge deal. In a bid to reverse the sales slide, several now want to advertise their low-alcohol spirits coolers on television.

“It is a flat-out effort to remain competitive,” said Max J. Kerstein, publisher of the Los Angeles-based Beverage Bulletin.

Leading the pack is Bacardi Imports Inc. The Miami-based manufacturer is about to test market Bacardi Breezer, a rum-based fruit drink with less alcohol than many types of beer and table wine. Although it will test-market the cooler in seven cities, in at least one--Tucson--it intends on airing commercials on independent television stations.

“It’s really no big deal,” said Alfredo Piedra, new products manager for Bacardi. “I think people are just trying to look into this thing too much.”

And some television executives agree. “I really don’t see a problem,” said Randall Cantrell, vice president and general manager of KMSB, an independent TV station in Tucson that has accepted the Bacardi Breezer ad. “They showed us reams of documentation that says the alcoholic content of their spirit-based wine cooler is no different from any other wine cooler.”

But some consumer groups think that once liquor makers get these ads on television, they will eventually try touting booze like tequila and whiskey. “It’s back door advertising,” said Patricia Taylor, director of the alcohol policy project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based lobby. “They’re trying any way they can to advertise distilled spirits on television.”

That’s nonsense, says Janet Flynn, a spokeswoman for the Distilled Sprits Council. “It has the same amount of alcohol as any other cooler, so why shouldn’t we advertise it?” she posed. “Of course, there is an anti-alcohol force out there that would be upset over anything we did.”

Maybe so. But all of the major television networks have also rejected the Bacardi Breezer ad. “If we’re not responsible self regulators, the government will step in,” explained Harvey Dzodin, director of broadcast standards at ABC.

“The feeling here,” said an executive at another network, “is that any erosion of our current standards could result in a backlash. We could find ourselves faced with calls for a complete ban of ads for all alcoholic beverages on television.”

At least for the time being, another maker of these spirit-based coolers--Jim Beam Brands Co.--says it has no plans to advertise its cooler on television. “We’re not even thinking about it, “ said Patti Paustian, the company’s marketing communications manager. “It’s not in our 1988 ad budget.”

Bacardi won’t discuss any details of its planned ad campaign for Bacardi Breezer. “But all this commotion may be in vain,” said Piedra. “Because if we find out in the test market that print advertising is the best way to go nationally with this campaign, then by God, that’s what we’ll do.”

Surgeon Reshapes Magazine Promotional

Every once in a while, a locally produced magazine ad comes along that stops readers in their tracks. Such an ad--an eight-page color insert promoting a plastic surgeon--appears in the April issue of Los Angeles magazine.

The cover of the insert begs for attention with a close-up color photo of a woman’s tight tummy and navel.

And while the provocative ad cannot be mistaken for a Playboy center fold, it also features a fold-out photo of a scantily dressed model standing next to a Ferrari. The headline at top says, “Automobile by Ferrari, Body by Forshan.”

Forshan is actually Dr. Vincent R. Forshan, a Rancho Mirage-based plastic surgeon who has practiced the trade for 10 years. He didn’t really do any plastic surgery on the model in the advertisement. But, he said, the point of the advertisement is that he can make bodies look that good.

“You may find the picture offensive,” he said, “but we have found in our research that this kind of an ad can attract business.”

Indeed, although the April issue is just one week old, his firm has already booked appointments with seven prospective clients who responded to the ad. It has also attracted several phone calls, he said, from people both pleased and upset by the ad. Although Forshan won’t say what he paid, the ad reportedly cost upward of $100,000 to print and insert.

The publisher of Los Angeles magazine, D. F. Delle Monache, said he isn’t aware of any calls or letters that his magazine has received about the ad. “I don’t think the overall tone is racy or sexy,” he said. “If we feel an ad is offensive, we won’t run it. It’s a judgment call.”

To Forshan, the insert may be just the beginning of a trend toward more aggressive plastic surgery advertising. “I may be among the first but certainly not the last to do anything like this,” he said. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

Record Firms Take Note of Latino Agency

Two Southern California record companies have taken the advertising for their Latino divisions to the same agency--Garces Cuomo Advertising.

The agency is one of a growing number of Latino firms to open offices in the Los Angeles market during the past several months. And the ad firm’s combined billings from the Latino divisions of clients Warner, Electra, Atlantic Records and rival RCA/Ariola already exceed $1 million.

Both clients are counting on the ad agency to help them persuade more conventional record shop chains to carry Latino records. ‘It isn’t easy getting accepted by general market music stores,” said Fernando Garces-Soto, creative director and co-partner of the ad firm. “But the Wherehouse recently started to carry some Latino labels, and we expect others will soon follow.”

‘87 Billings Climb for Top L.A. Agencies

They have yet to crack the nation’s top 200 list. But several of the Los Angeles area’s largest advertising agencies are gaining in both size and stature. A listing of the nation’s top 100 ad agencies released last week by the trade publication Advertising Age reveals that of the Los Angeles area’s top five ad firms, four climbed in worldwide income in 1987.

Nationally, Young & Rubicam held onto the top spot among U.S.-based ad agencies for the seventh consecutive year, with 1987 world income of $735 million. But Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide is closing the gap fast, ranking in the second spot last year with world income of $694 million.

The Los Angeles area’s leader is the Venice-based ad firm Chiat/Day, which Advertising Age now ranks as the nation’s 25th largest, with 1987 worldwide income of $52.5 million. Chiat/Day, which handles advertising for Nissan, was ranked 31st nationally in 1986, with worldwide income of $47.1 million.

Among the Los Angeles area’s ad firms, Dailey & Associates suffered one of the biggest gross income drops, slipping to $16.9 million in 1987 from $21.1 million in 1986, according to Advertising Age. But Philip Joanou, chairman of Dailey & Associates, said the figures don’t properly reflect all the changes in the firm’s accounts.

“Our income was actually up about 4% last year,” he said. Although his agency lost the $25-million Western Airlines account last year, he noted that it picked up $46 million in new business, including such big accounts as the California Lottery and Honda Scooters.

Magazine on Vietnam Hitting Stands Soon

Who would want to advertise in a magazine called Vietnam?

Well, you won’t find ads for Jell-O or Jiffy Pop. But the first issue of the magazine--which hits the newsstands this month--is packed full of ads from book publishers such as Time-Life Books and Presidio Press. All are eager to sell their series of historical books on the Vietnam War.

The quarterly publication, which sells for $2.95, features historical articles on the war.

“We’re not out to glorify the war,” said Publisher Gregg R. Oehler, whose Leesburg, Va.-based Empire Press also publishes such magazines as Military History and Sports History. “It’s just that there are a lot of myths about the Vietnam War. We want to help people reassess what really happened.”

TOP ADVERTISING AGENCIES WITH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HEADQUARTERS

Here are the top five ad firms with headquarters in Southern California as ranked according to estimated gross income by trade magazine Advertising Age. Not included are the Los Angeles offices of firms with headquarters elsewhere. Billings refers to the total amount of money that clients spend on creating and placing advertising; income is the agency’s cut of those billings (usually between 10% and 15%).

L.A. U.S. Income Billings Rank Agency Rank (millions) (millions) 1 Chiat/Day 25 $52.5 $350 2 Admarketing 37 36.0 201 3 Davis, Johnson, 59 18.9 134.2 Mogul & Colombatto 4 Rubin Postaer & Associates 61 17.6 125.5 5 Dailey & Associates 66 16.9 112.8