Bozell is a division of TNO..........................Liquor industry mulls TV ad
campaign, but says no
decisions made
By Skip Wollenberg, Associated Press, 02/23/99 23:55
NEW YORK (AP) - Liquor makers are hearing from the
advertising agency behind memorable campaigns for milk and
pork as they consider developing TV commercials and other
ads to convert beer and wine drinkers.
The industry's trade group heard a presentation in December
from an arm of the agency Bozell Worldwide, which developed
the milk-mustache campaign for the dairy industry and tagged
pork as ''the other white meat.''
Bozell is considering mounting an ad campaign on behalf of
the liquor industry as U.S. consumption of scotch, gin, rum
and other distilled spirits has begun to stabilize after years of
steady decline.
Critics of liquor advertising fear such a campaign would be
designed to make imbibing as routine as having a beer has
become for many people.
''The danger is that liquor becomes viewed as just another
liquid,'' said George Hacker, who monitors alcohol marketing
for the consumer group Center for Science in the Public
Interest.
But a spokeswoman for the industry's main trade group said
Tuesday that the examination of whether to back a generic
campaign on behalf of distilled drinks is preliminary and no
decisions have been made.
''It's all in the developmental stage,'' said Judy Blatman, a
spokeswoman for the Distilled Spirits Council of the United
States. ''At this point, there is no budget, no campaign, no
media schedule - nothing that has been approved.'' She
declined to offer a timetable for a decision.
The liquor business has been increasingly envious of the
relative freedom the beer and wine industry have to advertise
on radio and TV.
At the same time, its sales have been slumping. Consumption
of distilled spirits dropped 20 percent from 1985 to 1995,
although it has edged up 1 percent over the next two years,
according to the Adam's Business Media Liquor Handbook.
U.S. liquor sales in 1997 were estimated at $33.6 billion.
The consideration of an industry ad campaign also comes a
little more than two years after liquor makers dumped a
self-imposed ban against advertising on radio and TV that had
been in place for nearly 50 years.
Blatman said more than 1,000 radio and TV outlets have
carried liquor ads since the industry lifted the ban in November
1996.
In addition, she said a Washington, D.C., television station ran
an ad the group prepared comparing alcohol content in typical
servings of beer, wine and alcohol for six weeks last summer.
But she said the commercial only ran as part of the trade
group's sponsorship of a tennis tournament.
The major broadcast networks and several cable networks,
including CNN, TNT, A&E, Lifetime and the USA Network,
have refused to take distilled spirits ads.
Hacker, who said he has seen portions of a memo from the
New York Media arm of Bozell Worldwide for the trade group,
said it mentions spending up to $40 million for on broadcast
ads, heavily weighted toward cable TV. He estimated individual
liquor companies spent about $10 million on TV and radio ads
for their brands in 1997.
But he added the memo indicates ''they are considering a
number of options'' including less dramatic efforts as well.
''This hasn't gotten very far. It is still a preliminary proposal,'' he
said.
Bozell referred calls on the matter to the trade association.
Blatman declined to provide details of Bozell's memo.
The Wall Street Journal had reported on the proposal Tuesday.
''It would be silly for us to talk about any plans until something
is finalized,'' Blatman said.
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