Liquor Ads On TV After A Long Absence

A nearly 50-year-old voluntary prohibition on TV commercials for hard liquor is on the rocks with a decision by Seagram to advertise in Texas.

Seagram’s ads are a first for a major U.S. liquor company since the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States created a voluntary ban in 1936 for radio and 1948 for television.

With liquor sales lagging, other distillers are sure to measure the reaction to Seagram’s monthlong series of 30-second Crown Royal whiskey commercials on a Corpus Christi NBC affiliate.

“We believe that distilled spirits should be able to access advertising in a responsible way on television and radio in the same manner as beer and wine,” Arthur Shapiro, Seagram executive vice president of marketing and strategy, said in a statement.

The advertising has never been against any federal law.

Most members of the liquor trade group have stuck with the voluntary ban, but Allied Domecq has aired ads for Presidente brandy for five years on several Spanish-language channels across the country.

The total number of cases sold fell from 190 million in 1980 to 135 million last year.

“As a matter of fairness, our industry strongly believes that we should not be discriminated against, nor should we discriminate against ourselves,” Fred Meister, president and chief executive of the liquor council, said in a statement.