FTC probing alcohol advertising

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FTC / Federal Trade CommissionTo complete a new study of alcohol advertising, the Federal Trade Commission will is requesting detailed information from 14 big advertisers. The thrust of the study is to judge how well this advertising is being kept away from underage audiences. And if you don’t think broadcasters have ample competition for a piece of the advertising pie, radio and television are but two of 23 advertising venues the FTC is exploring.


Well, OK, it’s 23 if you include “other” – toss it out, and the total is 22. Of course, the other way to think about it is that who knows how many categories there are if all of the “others” were counted individually.

In a release, the agency said, “The Federal Trade Commission has required 14 major alcoholic beverage advertisers to provide information for the agency’s fourth major study on the effectiveness of voluntary industry guidelines for reducing advertising and marketing to underage audiences by beer, wine, and distilled spirits manufacturers.”

It’s the fourth such study, and the first since 2008.

Here are the venues being researched:
A. Television Advertising
B. Radio Advertising
C. Magazine Advertising
D. Newspaper Advertising
E. Transit Advertising
F. Outdoor Advertising
G. Direct Mail Advertising
H. Company-Owned or Operated Internet Sites
I. Other Internet Site Advertising
J. Other Digital Advertising
K. Point-of-Sale Advertising: Specialty Item Distribution
L. Point-of-Sale Advertising: Retail Value-Added Expenditures
M. Point-of-Sale Advertising: Other
N. Promotional Allowances
O. Public Entertainment Events: Not Sports-Related
P. Sponsorship of Sporting Events, Sports Teams, or Individual Athletes
Q. Spring Break Promotions
R. Product Placements
S. In-Cinema Advertising
T. Telemarketing
U. Other
V. Sports and Sporting Events (Cross-Category)
W. Social Responsibility Programs and Messages (Cross-Category)

And here are the lucky 14 companies:
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.
Bacardi USA, Inc.
Beam Inc.
Brown-Forman Corporation
Constellation Brands, Inc.
Diageo PLC
Heaven Hill Distilleries Inc.
Heineken USA, Inc.
Jackson Family Wines
Mark Anthony Brands, Inc., Doing Business As Mike’s Hard Lemonade Company
MillerCoors LLC
Pernod Ricard USA
Skyy Spirits LLC, Doing Business As Compari America
William Grant and Sons, Inc.