The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence fights the stigma and the disease of alcoholism and other drug addictions.

NCADD Issue Brief

NBC Cancels Liquor Ads on Television

MARCH 21, 2002

For the first time since a voluntary liquor-industry ban against television commercials for alcoholic beverages was lifted in 1996, a major national television network has begun airing commercials for distilled spirits, or so-called hard liquor. In December 2001, in an effort to reverse a steep decline in revenue following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, NBC (a subsidiary of General Electric), agreed to air a multimillion dollar ad campaign by the Guinness UDV division of Diageo. The first in a series of these commercials aired on Saturday, December 15, 2001, during NBC's popular comedy show "Saturday Night Live." Health advocacy groups immediately decried NBC's action, and continued to pressure NBC to pull the ads. On March 21, 2002, NBC announced that they would stop airing the ads.

FROM NCADD PRESIDENT STACIA MURPHY

Thanks to the efforts of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the American Medical Association, NCADD and other coalition members, NBC has cancelled its policy of allowing liquor advertisements on its network. (Please see links to news clips below). While we are all pleased, this is but the first step in educating the media and public that consumption of alcohol is a health problem. Kids are still getting a continuous bombardment of beer and wine ads on television. We need to work to limit brewers' access to young audiences. Our special thanks go to Representatives Wolf and Roybal-Allard who have been such staunch allies in Congress in our efforts to ban liquor ads and to prevent distillers from targeting young people.

LINKS TO NEWS CLIPS

nytimes.com/2002/03/21/business/media/21ADCO.html www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59368-2002Mar20.html usatoday.com/money/media/2002-03-21-nbc-ads.htm

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.

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