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Marketing Alcoholic Beverages To College Kids Facing Increased Scrutiny

  • USA Today, Thursday, November 17, 2005 1:30 PM
College students have long been the holy grail of target groups for beer and spirits marketers because that's the age when brand loyalties for those kinds of products are formed. They also have a lot of money to spend. But now alcohol marketers' efforts to reach this crowd are coming under more scrutiny than ever from watchdog groups, lawyers, politicians and parents. The result is that momentum is building to ban alcohol ads from college sports broadcasts, arenas and even whole campuses. In fact, some limits already exist. For example, for tournaments and championships, the National Collegiate Athletic Association limits beer and wine ads to 60 seconds per broadcast hour and says there must be a "drink responsibly" tagline in the ad. The issue is a big one because in 2004, $68 million was spent to advertise alcohol on college sports TV, up from $54 million the year before.

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