FTC Reviews Marketing Practices of Liquor Companies June 3, 2003
News Summary
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has asked eight beer and spirits companies to submit information about how they are preventing marketing to an underage audience, Adweek reported May 26.Allied Domecq, Anheuser-Busch, Brown-Forman, Coors, Diageo, Jim Beam Brands, Miller Brewing Co. and the Mark Anthony Group, makers of Mike's Hard Lemonade, were told by the FTC to detail their marketing practices, ad content, and target audiences.
"We were invited by the FTC to provide information on our code of good practice, and we welcome the opportunity," said Lisa Hawkins, a representative with the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S.
In 1999, the FTC recommended that alcohol companies establish independent review boards to focus on responding to public complaints, restrict advertising to media where more than 50 percent of the audience is 21 or older, and develop a set of best practices, such as prohibiting ads on television shows and media with a large underage audience.
In this year's appropriations bill, Congress asked the FTC to prepare a six-month study on marketing practices by liquor companies. A draft is expected in August.
The FTC review follows a September 2002 report released by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University that found that magazine readers aged 12 to 20 viewed 54 percent more malternative ads, 45 percent more beer ads, and 27 percent more distilled-spirit ads than those over age 21.
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