The beer industry wants to clean up its act. Or, failing that, it at least wants to give consumers offended by sophomoric advertising a place to vent. The Beer Institute, a trade organization,
announced it plans to create a new panel to hear consumer complaints about beer ads. Core issues concern whether beer advertising violates decency standards or purposely appeal to underage consumers.
Institute President Jeff Becker said the organization counts about 100 brewers as member, including major national advertisers such as Anheuser Busch, Miller and Coors. "What we want to provide is an
opportunity for consumers who have complained and don't agree with the brewer's response," he said. The panel would be financially independent of both the institute and its membership, he said, and
would address complaints only after the companies had been given a chance to fix the problem. Part of the criteria the panel will use is the institute's six-page Advertising and Marketing Code, a
voluntary guideline for members concerned about maintaining decency standards in their advertising.
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