wfn.org | Media advocates decry Grammy Awards liquor ad

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

> Media advocates decry Grammy Awards liquor ad

> Written by Jeff Woodard
> March 4, 2009

The United Church of Christ?s Office of Communication, Inc. has joined 28 other religious, public-policy and substance-abuse organizations in signing on to a letter to CBS-TV, expressing disappointment over the network?s recent airing of a hard-liquor ad on it largest stations and affiliates.

During the broadcast of the 51st Grammy Awards on Feb. 9, CBS broke its long-standing, voluntary ban of spirits advertising on broadcast TV by airing an ad for Absolut Vodka. Affiliates in 14 leading markets ran a 30-second spot titled
"Hugs" in the third hour of programming, marking the first time a commercial for a distilled-spirits product has appeared on any CBS-owned local broadcast stations.

?It is extremely disappointing that CBS  has reversed its long-standing position on alcohol advertising,? said the Rev. J. Bennett Guess, OC, Inc. executive director and UCC director of communications. ?We are deeply concerned that the network will begin to expand alcohol advertising to the detriment of public health and safety.?

The Grammy show featured teen music idols Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus, drawing a large underage TV audience. ?We understand that the vodka ad reached an estimated 31 percent of all U.S. TV households,? states the letter, addressed to Leslie Moonves, President and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Corporation. ?This expansion of alcohol advertising on broadcast network programs will increase youth exposure to alcohol advertising and undermine efforts to reduce underage drinking. We call on CBS to act in the interest of public health and safety, and reverse this decision.?

According to the U.S. Surgeon General, drinking results in 5,000 deaths per year in the 21-and-under population. In 2004, underage youths accounted for more than 142,000 alcohol-related visits to the emergency room. In addition, youth who begin drinking by age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence as an adult as those who begin at 21 or older, the Surgeon General says.

The letter said that the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at Georgetown University found that from 2001 to 2007, youth exposure to alcohol advertisements on television increased by 38 percent. The letter went on to cite a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) statistic showing that liquor is especially popular among underage girls who consume alcohol.

?We are also concerned that CBS affiliates? acceptance of liquor ads is testing the waters for the expansion of liquor advertising into its parent network, obliterating CBS? longstanding voluntary ban on such advertising,? the letter continues. ?Given the toll of alcohol problems in this country ? 85,000 deaths and nearly $200 billion in economic costs each year ? piling hard-liquor promotions on top of the $725 million in beer advertising already on television represents an assault on public health and safety, and an obstacle to plans for prevention-oriented health care reform.

Affiliates will run the Absolut ad at their own discretion, said a CBS representative. "Each of our local station general managers is responsible for evaluating the suitability of ads. In this case, they determined that the creative for this particular spot is tasteful and appropriate for the stations' late-evening audiences."

The "Hugs" spot, built as the TV extension of a brand campaign that launched in spring 2007, aired after 10 p.m. local time Feb. 9 in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and 10 other top-20 markets, a local buy reaching 31 percent of U.S. TV households.