Anheuser-Busch's new deal to deliver ads via cellphones amounts to marketing to underage drinkers, youth alcohol-prevention groups charge.

Advertising Age reported April 6 that the brewer has partnered with MobilTV to seed cellphone TV programming with ads for Bud Light and Budweiser Select. The company says the ads target 21- to 35-year-olds.

But the Marin Institute says that the company is looking to advertise to even younger drinkers, noting that cellphones have become a ubiquitous accessory for teens.

Anheuser-Busch spokesperson Francine Katz said that the company is adhering to the Beer Institute's voluntary advertising code, which states that beer ads should only appear where 70 percent or more of the audience is over age 21. MobilTV claims that 82 percent of its users are ages 21-39.

But research from Advertising Age's American Demographics shows that 13- to 17-year-olds -- more than half of whom have cellphones -- are far more likely than older cellphone owners to use their phones for activities other than calling, such as playing games and text messaging.