LOCAL NBC STATION TO AIR SPIRITS COMMERICALS
NBC’s flagship station in New York City, WNBC-TV, has started running commercials for Bacardi brands in its local market, according to an article in the New York Times. The commercials on WNBC, Channel 4, began appearing last Friday (November 30) and will run through the new year on news, talk and sports programs. Sponsored by Bacardi North America, the spots feature brands including Bacardi and Grey Goose.
WNBC guidelines restrict the commercials from appearing before 11pm and require the sponsors to include messages about drinking responsibly. Most cable networks begin showing spirits commercials after 10pm.
From 1948 until 1996, no TV station or network accepted liquor ads although distilled spirits were advertised in newspapers, magazines and billboards. Today, hundreds of cable networks and local stations not owned by the four biggest broadcast networks (NBC, ABC, Fox and CBS) carry commercials for distilled spirits. The big four networks, however, do not feature spirits ads because of critics who believe the commercials encourage minors to drink.
"The idea here was to take a responsible attitude and do it appropriately," said Frank Comerford, president and general manager at WNBC to the Times, "to be very targeted to an audience 21 and over and have social responsibility messages."
For example, the spots will not appear during Saturday Night Live although 90% of viewers are 21 or older. They will, however, appear during "Mike'd Up," "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," for example.
NBC still does not accept liquor commercials and contends the decision by WNBC was made by the station. ABC, CBS and Fox also have policies against carrying spots for distilled spirits. None of the other local stations owned by NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox run spirits commercials, which means that WNBC is currently the only one.
"The viewing audiences for these shows are 90, 95 percent or more 21 and above," said John Esposito, president and chief at Bacardi North America in Miami. "We want to make sure we didn't cross any lines."
As you’ll recall, members of DISCUS agreed to a voluntary ban on TV advertising until 1996. The trade group dropped the voluntary ban in late 1996 after Seagram ran a commercial for Crown Royal on an ABC station in Corpus Christi, Texas.
A spokeswoman for NBC, Liz Fischer, told the Times, "These decisions would be made by the individual stations. It would be up to them to decide if it was appropriate in their markets."
To view the article in its entirety, click here.
WNBC guidelines restrict the commercials from appearing before 11pm and require the sponsors to include messages about drinking responsibly. Most cable networks begin showing spirits commercials after 10pm.
From 1948 until 1996, no TV station or network accepted liquor ads although distilled spirits were advertised in newspapers, magazines and billboards. Today, hundreds of cable networks and local stations not owned by the four biggest broadcast networks (NBC, ABC, Fox and CBS) carry commercials for distilled spirits. The big four networks, however, do not feature spirits ads because of critics who believe the commercials encourage minors to drink.
"The idea here was to take a responsible attitude and do it appropriately," said Frank Comerford, president and general manager at WNBC to the Times, "to be very targeted to an audience 21 and over and have social responsibility messages."
For example, the spots will not appear during Saturday Night Live although 90% of viewers are 21 or older. They will, however, appear during "Mike'd Up," "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," for example.
NBC still does not accept liquor commercials and contends the decision by WNBC was made by the station. ABC, CBS and Fox also have policies against carrying spots for distilled spirits. None of the other local stations owned by NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox run spirits commercials, which means that WNBC is currently the only one.
"The viewing audiences for these shows are 90, 95 percent or more 21 and above," said John Esposito, president and chief at Bacardi North America in Miami. "We want to make sure we didn't cross any lines."
As you’ll recall, members of DISCUS agreed to a voluntary ban on TV advertising until 1996. The trade group dropped the voluntary ban in late 1996 after Seagram ran a commercial for Crown Royal on an ABC station in Corpus Christi, Texas.
A spokeswoman for NBC, Liz Fischer, told the Times, "These decisions would be made by the individual stations. It would be up to them to decide if it was appropriate in their markets."
To view the article in its entirety, click here.
posted at 2:43 PM
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