Advertising researchers found that the favorite Super Bowl ads seen by TV viewers under age 17 were for products they can't legally buy -- Bud Light and Budweiser.

The New York Times reported Feb. 13 that the annual Adbowl poll of Super Bowl viewers found that ads for Bud Light were ranked first, second, and fourth most-popular among under-17s. The number-three ad was for Budweiser.

"I'm not saying one way or another that beer companies target kids, but to infer that they're targeting kids simply because kids like their commercials is a giant leap," said study director Steve McKee of McKee Wallwork Cleveland.

Alcohol industry critics are less equivocal. "Using a baby Clydesdale to sell beer to kids is just like using Joe Camel to sell cigarettes," said Amon Rappaport of the Marin Institute, referring to one popular ad for Budweiser.

Francine I. Katz, a vice president of Anheuser-Busch, said that 89 percent of Super Bowl viewers were age 21 or older, with a median viewer age of 43. "Based on those numbers, it's simply ridiculous to suggest that underage people are the intended audience for these ads," Katz said.