Posted on 04/24/2005 12:38:53 PM PDT by E Rocc
Bud Light Accused of Trivializing Alcoholism in New Ad
Watchdog Groups Say Beer Ad Depicts Lying About Drinking
WASHINGTON—-A new ad for Bud Light beer depicts men joking about lies they've told to cover up their daytime drinking, and two watchdog groups say the Federal Trade Commission should crack down and ask Anheuser-Busch to pull the ad. In a letter to FTC enforcement official Janet Evans, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) say the ad irresponsibly makes light of alcoholic behavior.
The ad in question features a group of men drinking at a bar. The bartender asks the men how they are able to leave work early every day to drink. The men each then recount various lies or excuses they use to prioritize drinking over their job responsibilities—the kind of lies that real-life alcoholics might use to disguise their covert drinking, according to the groups.
"Anheuser-Busch no doubt thinks this ad is funny, but there is nothing funny about promoting the destructive and addictive behavior that is recklessly presented in this ad," said George A. Hacker, director of CSPI's Alcohol Policies Project. "Anheuser-Busch is signaling to heavy drinkers and alcoholics that it is perfectly okay to lie to coworkers, or ask them to lie for you, to conceal work-time drinking. This is a new low even for Anheuser-Busch, a company that has not been shy about exploring the depths of corporate irresponsibility."
Late last year, CSPI complained to the FTC that a previous Bud Light ad violated the beer industry’s own voluntary guidelines for responsible advertising. That ad showed referees stealing beer and running away from police. While it was done in a jocular manner, CSPI said it clearly violated the letter of the industry's guidelines, which prohibit ads that depict illegal behavior of any kind. That ad prompted the FTC to express concern about the industry’s process for dealing with complaints and ensuring companies' compliance with the code.
CSPI and NCADD say this latest ad certainly violates the spirit of the code, which states that beer should be portrayed in a "responsible manner." While the guidelines are silent on the propriety of depicting alcoholic behavior in advertising, the code does have a prohibition on approving product-placement campaigns that depict alcoholism or alcohol abuse.
"Anheuser-Busch's 'It's All Here' ad clearly demonstrates the total inadequacy of the Beer Institute’s voluntary advertising standards and enforcement and represents a continued gross lack of respect even for industry’s weak standards," the groups' letter states. CSPI and NCADD say that the fact that the beer industry's advertising code does not expressly prohibit such an ad shows how flawed that code is.
"One wonders how Anheuser-Busch would feel if its workers decided to follow the example provided by its own advertising, and left work early each day under false pretenses to hang out at a bar," said Stacia Murphy, NCADD president. According to NCADD, alcohol problems cost American businesses an estimated $134 billion in lost productivity.
It's the good ol' Center for Science in the Public Interest folks again.
"When was it decided that the dorks and the squares, the button-down mediocrities for whom a third Friday-night beer is the height of excess, would be calling the shots? Who empowered these teetotaling chumps, these jogging crypto-fascists with spotless livers and unblackened lungs, to decide where we smoke and how we drink and what we eat?"
Miliard is fed up with the teaming mass of whining activists, busybody bureaucrats, aspiring Big Brother lawmakers, and greedy trial lawyers out to restrict nearly everything we eat and drink. Upset with the knowledge that someone, somewhere is enjoying a glass of wine with a juicy steak, people like Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest continue to use junk science and push policies to take the fun out of the American diet.
What the [expletive deleted] is going on here? When did this country get overrun by killjoys and prudes?
snip
Advertising works on Republicans and conservatives too.
Or they work someplace that sucks. Or have put in lots of extra hours and feel they've earned the right to take a couple back from the company.
I agree.
I keep mine in a cooler at work and get paid for having that beer!
One of the AB employees was in trouble for drinking on the job. It seemed he fell into the brewery vat and could not help but swallow a little of the product. His wife was called but by the time she got there he had drowned.
"Was it quick, or long and painful", she wanted to know.
Well his co-workers said, "It seemed pretty painless, you see he got out of the vat twice to relieve himself".
Very immature attitude.
You are part of the problem, not the solution.
You are part of the problem, not the solution.
Sure it does! Who doesn't want the sports car that is going to get the girls hot for your body and to ride along side you, or the product that is going to take all the age lines from your face? But are the claims real?
My point is, if you're going to duck work and go to the bar for a beer you're going to do it anyway, and a commercial won't make you do it.
Nothing immature about it. Just reminding ourselves that we work to live, not live to work. Our entire department took off a few hours early for some brews a couple weeks ago, of course we'd just finished a release that included a lot of OT (no extra pay of course, we're on salary) and had worked the entire month of October without a single day off for the previous release. So we took a few hours back, it's our time nto the company's, had a couple beers, bitched about work, and recharged the psychological batteries for the next release. Nothing immature about retaking ownership of your own life.
I can't believe you would be so insensitive as to say these things. Your post is probably the most offensive I have ever read here. In fact, I'm offended!
You mean their union does not negotiate beer breaks for them any more???
Whenever you see CSPI, run up a red flag. These are the "don't eat popcorn" and "don't eat Mexican food" wackos.
I drink Bud Light in order to sober up.
I love it. Can I send it to some friends?
While I usually don't agree with anything CSPI says ( I love meat and fois gras), on this ad I have to agree. Both my husband and I are recovering alcoholics and have 15 years sobriety. 15 years ago, he was drinking in his office with the doors closed and we had long lunches at a local restaurant. I was a news reporter then so worked nights. He almost lost his job running a good company until he was intervened on. Now, we are both happy, sober and free, and the company is doing better than ever with him still at the helm. The point is that these kinds of ads make alcohol abuse seem casually chic and promote a culture of denial. Beer was not our booze of choice though--it was fine wines, scotch and gin. Other than that, I despise the nanny state, I still smoke, love good food, good shoes, good travel, good pets and the substantial means to afford them all. But without being sober, we would have lost everything. I used to think those beer ads validated our lifestyle. It took some real spiritual rearrangments to get to where we are today, and I go to AA and see many sad young men and women who are prey to these kind of media messages that drinking is cool. To all those who can handle it, God bless you, but there is a slippery slope between problem drinking and alcoholism, and frequently people fall into it.
"I didn't think it was possible to get drunk drinking Bud Light."
You gotta be quick.
Any organization that uses "Center for..." anything in its name should be ignored.
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