For the first time in decades, Anheuser-Busch won’t be the only alcohol brand running national ads during the game.
As bars, pubs and restaurants reopen around the world with COVID-19 restrictions being loosened, ad spending on beer and spirits brands is expected to rise by 5.3% in 12 key markets studied by media buyer Zenith. The pandemic hit the alcohol category particularly hard, with spending down 11.6% in 2020, when overall spending decreased by 6.4%.
If the NFL’s recent decision to lift its longstanding ban on liquor advertisements is likely to make the upcoming season a slightly more bibulous affair, football fans shouldn’t expect to see the hard stuff on the Super Bowl menu any time soon. As much as the NFL’s media partners welcome the chance to usher in an untapped category, liquor marketers effectively will be shut out of Super Bowl LII and LIII. The league hasn’t issued any restrictions on Super Sunday spirits ads, but Anheuser-Busch’s existing deals with NBC and CBS grant it exclusivity in the alcohol category during the Big Game.
A Federal Trade Commission study shows over 93% compliance with placement guidelines for alcohol advertising. The fourth major study focused on alcohol industry compliance with self-regulatory guidelines, including those designed to address concerns about youth access to alcohol marketing. The findings also include how companies allocate access marketing dollars: 31.9% of expenditures were directed to advertising in traditional media such as TV, radio, magazine and newspaper.
One in four TV ads in the 25 top markets don’t follow industry rules that prohibit ads when the under-21 audience exceeds 28.4%, a new study finds.
Minors who are familiar with TV alcohol ads are more likely to have tried alcoholic beverages and binge drink than those who do not recall seeing such ads, according to a study to be presented earlier this week at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting.
Exclusives
For the fourth time in 12 years, the Federal Trade Commission plans to study the effectiveness of the voluntary guidelines followed by most marketers of alcoholic beverages. The guidelines are intended primarily to reduce the exposure of advertising to those under the legal drinking age.
A new study claims a rise in TV alcohol advertising to underage young viewers — and that the distilled spirits industry has breached its self-imposed limits. The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health says there was a 71% rise between 2001 and 2009 in TV alcohol commercials seen by young viewers, 12 to 20 years old.
