Liquor Panel Ends TV Ad Ban

The liquor industry Thursday lifted its 48-year-old voluntary ban on television and radio advertising, inviting a showdown with the government that could result in federal restrictions on alcoholic beverage commercials.

The Distilled Spirits Council, an industry group, said the self-imposed broadcast ban put liquor firms at a competitive disadvantage with wine and beer companies--aggressive marketers that advertise heavily on TV.

“We believe we have a legal right to advertise,” said Fred A. Meister, president and chief executive of the Distilled Spirits Council. “Alcohol is alcohol.”

The council’s action, condemned by consumer groups, was largely symbolic. The networks have said they will not accept liquor ads, and major station operators, such as Infinity Broadcasting and Cox, strongly discourage their stations from accepting them. Likewise, some major cable companies have said they will not take the ads.

Nonetheless, the council’s action is likely to push forward the debate about alcohol advertising on TV.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt on Thursday chided the industry for lifting the ban, calling it “disappointing for parents and dangerous for our children.”

The FCC has been at the forefront of the debate about liquor advertising on TV since test ads began appearing in a handful of markets in March. Voicing concern about how the ads would affect children, Hundt has discouraged the networks from accepting them. The FCC has no jurisdiction over advertising but has clout because it licenses broadcasters.

Liquor ads have come under attack in Congress as well. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III (D-Mass.) has been spearheading legislation that would outlaw distilled spirits ads on television.

Last spring, Joseph E. Seagram tested the water for liquor ads by placing a commercial for its Chivas Regal whiskey on cable TV--a violation of the industry’s voluntary ban.

Seagram later placed ads on remote broadcast stations in New Hampshire and Texas. In response, Hundt directed the FCC to gather facts about how liquor advertising could potentially harm children.

The council’s action is likely to spur the FCC’s investigation.

“It is now important to pursue this issue with great vigor,” said a high-level FCC staff member.

In demanding equal treatment as that for beer and wine, the spirits industry could draw other alcoholic beverage advertisers into the fray, potentially threatening more than $600 million in TV beer advertising.

Consumer organizations are already lobbying for restrictions on beer and wine commercials. In a letter to the FCC last month, Mothers Against Drunk Driving urged the commission to review alcoholic beverage advertising, specifically the Budweiser frogs. (Anheuser Busch has said the frogs are not aimed at underage drinkers.)

“It will be very difficult to keep the debate corralled to [the spirits] industry,” said George Hacker, alcohol policy advisor for the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington.

But so far, the FCC has kept its focus on distilled spirits advertising, to the relief of broadcasters, which do not want to risk losing beer advertising. Beer companies sponsor a big chunk of network sports programming.

“We are concerned with maintaining the status quo, not changing it,” said the FCC staff member.

In place of its ban, the spirits industry announced self-imposed restrictions. It said ads would not feature cartoon characters popular with children, including Santa Claus--though marketers could create their own fictional characters. Sports figures and other celebrities are permitted.

Ads won’t make claims that consumers can achieve success or status by consuming alcohol. And the industry said the ads would not air during programs that are aimed at children.

“We’re not going to run ads during ‘Sesame Street,’ ” Meister said.

Such restrictions wouldn’t be likely to prevent people under 21 from viewing the ads. Consumer organizations said that as many as 18 million 2- to 17-year-olds watch television between 9 and 9:30 p.m., making up 17% of the viewing audience.

“Kids are watching television 24 hours a day,” said Sarah Kayson, policy director for the national Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence in Washington, which advocates airing warnings along with the liquor ads. “It is clear the industry needs to target kids and appeal to them because it needs new customers.”

Meister, of the Distilled Spirits Council, said the ads would not be aimed at underage drinkers. He said commercials are not intended to attract new drinkers, but to persuade beer and wine drinkers to switch.

Whether TV viewers will be seeing liquor ads soon is another matter. Broadcasters are under no obligation to accept the spots, and large operators are unlikely to do so and risk the wrath of the FCC.

Media buyers said Thursday that distilled spirits companies will avoid major markets such as Los Angeles, where the spots could draw negative publicity. The top-rated stations in major markets tend to be owned by the networks, which aren’t taking the ads.

William P. Croasdale, president of Western International Media in Los Angeles, said spirits companies are likely to move gingerly, targeting low-rated stations in small markets, as Seagram has with its whiskey ads.

“My gut feeling is they will confine this to local markets, post-11 p.m. New York time,” he said.