Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 19, 1990 TAG: 9007190543
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/2 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Janet Steiger, FTC chairwoman, told a House panel Wednesday that requiring advertising warnings, like the labels now required on alcohol cans and bottles, "can be an effective component of a multi-faceted effort" against alcohol abuse.
The beer and alcohol industry is waging a strong fight against legislation sponsored by Rep. Joseph Kennedy, D-Mass., and Sen. Albert Gore, D-Tenn., that would require five rotating health warnings on beer, wine and liquor ads - including television commercials.
Steiger said "the evidence is inconclusive" whether advertising encourages alcohol consumption.
"The decision whether to require the proposed rotating health warnings in alcohol advertisements is a question of public policy that is most appropriately decided by the United States Congress," she said.
Kennedy told a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on transportation, tourism and hazardous materials that beer and other alcoholic beverage ads glamorize drinking and are aimed at young people.
Rep. Jim Slattery, D-Kan., criticized the beer industry for aiming its advertising at young people.
To make his point he displayed a magazine ad for Bud Lite beer featuring the brand's dog mascot sporting sunglasses and a guitar, beneath the headline: "Play that funky music, Spuds boy."
"Somebody has got to put pressure on the industry to be more responsible," Slattery said.
Steiger responded that the FTC was "assessing" whether beer producers were violating federal laws, including the prohibition on unfair and deceptive advertising.
But she refused to reveal what might come of that investigation or any private conversations between the FTC and the industry.
Alcohol beverage producers spend more than $2 billion a year on advertising and promotion in the United States, according to FTC figures.
The bill would require five rotating warnings with messages that drinking during pregnancy may cause birth defects, that drinking and driving is dangerous, that drinking may become addictive, and that it's illegal to buy alcohol for people younger than 21.
Opposing the bill, James Sanders, president of the Beer Institute, told the panel in written testimony that advertising doesn't cause alcohol abuse and that warnings may be counterproductive.
He said the brewing industry is trying to fight alcohol abuse with advertising that urges responsible drinking.
Tony Debevc of Chalet Debonne Vineyards in Ohio, representing the Association of American Vintners, said the warnings would impose a burden on small wineries that rely on promotional displays and brochures.
For both large and small producers, he said, the warning on ads "will have the effect of reducing consumption and thus income."
by CNB