If you're wondering what happened to the pregame hype
about Super Bowl commercials, you're not alone.
Interest is down in the television event synonymous
with cutting-edge advertising because ad revenue is down nationwide.
In fact, Fox was still selling air time earlier this week for
Sunday's game (6 p.m., WXIN 59), which is expected to draw 84
million viewers. Blame it on the recession. Blame it on the shift in
the nation's priorities since Sept. 11.
But another corner of television advertising is
quietly undergoing a dramatic shift, and there's not a lot of buzz
about it, either. NBC is carrying commercials for hard liquor, the
first national network to break a 50-year self-imposed ban on the
practice.
Since mid-December, the network has sparingly
broadcast commercials for Smirnoff. The 30-second spots are
promoting responsible consumption of alcohol more than the vodka
behind the brand logo. NBC has vowed to continue these
public-service-type commercials through April. After that, 20
percent of the network's liquor ads will continue to be about
moderation, responsibility and designated drivers.
Despite warnings from the American Medical Association
and the Center for Science in the Public Interest that increased ads
for alcohol on television will lead to greater underage drinking and
alcohol abuse, public reaction has been muted, said Glenn Sparks.
He's a communications professor at Purdue University who studies the
effects of media on culture, values and individuals.
"We're becoming emotionally desensitized to media
messages," he said. "Because of cable television and the Internet,
we're seeing so much that we wouldn't have seen even 10 or 15 years
ago. As a result, our sense of what is acceptable is changing."
Since 1996, local television and cable stations have
been advertising hard liquor. That may account for the muted
response to NBC's recent move, Sparks said. Viewers may have become
used to the ads and they aren't distinguishing between a commercial
for Kaluha cocktails on cable and a similar ad on a network.
In addition, beer commercials have become ubiquitous.
They're almost like wallpaper for network sports broadcasts and
cable stations such as MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central. In fact,
breweries spent $550 million in 2000 on television commercials
appealing to their target market, young men in their 20s, Sparks
said.
Increasingly, the public doesn't see an ethical
difference between beer commercials and ads for scotch, vodka or
rum.
Amy Lee, a 30-year-old mother of two, says alcohol is
alcohol. It's her business to know. She's a manager at Lotus, an
upscale Downtown Indianapolis club, restaurant and bar.
Located on South Meridian Street in a district once
known for its sports bars, Lotus is trying to distinguish itself
with an exclusive clientele and a menu of exotic Asian beers,
cocktails and pricey wines.
"I don't think there is a difference in terms of the
ethics," she said from the bar on a recent Saturday night. "If
someone wants to get drunk, they can do it either way."
The difference is in how the alcohol is advertised,
she said. As the parent of a 5-year-old and a 2-year old, she is
concerned that beer companies have for years used humor and
cartoonlike frogs and lizards to appeal to young people.
So Lee said she's pleased that NBC executives have
said they won't use celebrities to sell liquor and that actors in
the commercials will be at least 30 years old.
It's a trend that beer companies championed in the
late 1990s that is likely to continue as liquor ads pick up on the
message, according to Carolyn Hadlock. She's vice president/creative
director at Young and Laramore, an Indianapolis advertising agency
behind memorable television commercials for Goodwill Industries and
Steak n Shake.
If the network liquor ads work for Smirnoff, Hadlock
expects other brands will follow. Their campaign will be about
creating a mood and a sense of the product's place in the lives of
consumers. She sites the success of print ads for Absolute vodka
that for a decade have used fine art to reach upscale drinkers.
"It will be about trying to figure out the role a
product plays in someone's life," Hadlock said. "It's no longer
about sensationalizing something to get attention."
Jamie Stikeleather hasn't seen a liquor ad on NBC. But
the high-school senior from Union City believes alcohol ads, like
tobacco ads, should be banned from television. The 17-year-old is a
member of the Indiana Chapter of SADD, Students Against Drunk
Driving.
"There's no difference between these ads and the beer
ads," she said. "I don't like what any of them say to people. I
guess I have just seen a lot of bad stuff happen to people because
of alcohol use."
As Indiana SADD Student of the Year, she's committed
to speaking out against underage drinking and driving while under
the influence. And now she's speaking out to friends and anyone else
who asks against liquor ads on network television.
But not a lot of people ask, she said.
It's as if NBC's decision to run the ads isn't unusual
in a culture saturated with cable television liquor ads and so many
commercials for beer during sporting events.
"If I wasn't active in SADD, I probably wouldn't have
known this was a big change," Stikeleather said. "We become so used
to so much. But that doesn't mean it's right."
