Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 18, 1990 TAG: 9007180042
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Bracing for a House hearing today, the Beer Institute launched an offensive against legislation that would require an expansion of warnings, now required on beer cans and bottles, to also be carried on advertising.
The Beer Institute also said poll results show a majority of Americans don't think the warnings will curb alcohol abuse.
"The American people want real solutions, not gimmicks, to address the problems of alcohol abuse," James C. Sanders, president of the Beer Institute, said at a news conference in the Capitol.
He said if the bill passed, he expected beer companies would withdraw advertising that underwrites sports events or television coverage of the sports because ads would be no longer effective.
Bud Selig, owner of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team, said in a written statement that Miller Brewing Co.'s television advertising is worth millions of dollars to the team and would be difficult to replace. He said more than 70 professional sports teams have beer sponsors.
"Passage of this legislation could spell the end of family entertainment across the country," he said.
The bill is sponsored by Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Sen. Albert Gore, D-Tenn. It would require all ads for alcoholic beverages to include one of five safety warnings.
The warnings include messages that drinking during pregnancy may cause birth defects, that drinking and driving is dangerous, and that drinking may become addictive.
Backers of the bill say television and other types of ads glamorize alcohol use and encourage drinking.
Pat Taylor, director of alcohol policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said there was no evidence the ad warnings would bring an end to sports sponsorship.
"Clearly there is a veiled threat here," she said. "It's impossible for me to imagine the alcohol industry in America will stop advertising if this bill goes into effect."
"Their undertaking this kind of campaign indicates the bill... will probably be an effective part of what needs to be done to control the alcohol problems," she said.
Taylor dismissed the beer industry's poll as an attempt to counter earlier polls suggesting different findings.
by CNB