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American Morning
Sound Off: TV, Alcohol and Perceptions
Aired December 18, 2001 - 08:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Our "Sound Off" this morning, should hard liquor ads appear on network television? Well, beer and wine companies are free to advertise on TV, and beer commercials, like this one for Guinness, have long been a network staple. But this past week, NBC broke a 50-year-old voluntary ban on hard liquor advertising when it aired a Smirnoff's commercial during "Saturday Night Live."
Now, NBC's decision has renewed debate about whether alcohol ads lead to an increase in alcohol consumption by young people. With the debate this morning, are attorney Jerry Spence, on one side -- traveled a long distance to be here this morning -- and long-time advertising executive, a New Yorker himself, Jerry Della Femina, on the other side.
Welcome gentlemen. Good to see you both.
GERRY SPENCE, ATTORNEY AND AUTHOR: Good to be here.
ZAHN: I wanted to start off by putting up on the screen something that the head of the American Medical Association had to say about this latest move.
Quote -- "The decision by NBC to accept advertising for liquor is shockingly irresponsible and should be reversed immediately."
Do you agree, Jerry?
DELLA FEMINA: No, I don't agree. First of all, there -- there are very few people out -- liquor advertisers who can afford to advertise on television. So it's not going to be this (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Second, the period of the greatest amount of alcoholism was the 20s, when there wasn't television. So you just -- you can't -- and then, as a parent of a young 16-year-old, and I know you have young children.
We know what the biggest problem is. It's peer pressure. It's not -- they'll drink because other people drink. They're not going to look at television and suddenly decide, it's time for me to start to drink. So, I -- I think it's -- that it's just too much being made of it. It's not -- it's not that big a deal. There's not going to be that many commercials. Hopefully, they are late-night. Hopefully it will be...
ZAHN: You say hopefully. But there's no guarantee. DELLA FEMINA: Well -- well I think there is a guarantee...
ZAHN: It's all voluntary...
DELLA FEMINA: I think that they're talking about it. People being over 30 on -- on the commercials. And then also, running them as late as -- as possible.
ZAHN: So, is this the right thing to do? We know that the advertising market is in a slump now. We know that liquor ads account for, what, $400 million worth of advertising every year?
SPENCE: Well.
ZAHN: Do you think the -- the right thing to do?
SPENCE: Here is the welfare of the nation. And here is the welfare of NBC. And so it doesn't seem to me that from the standpoint of NBC, it makes any difference. You know, that's a big market out there. And there's no shame, no -- absolutely no shame. Dollars are the bottom line of any decision that Corporate America makes, whether it's NBC or some other corporation.
ZAHN: Sure it is.
SPENCE: And so, you know, there isn't any place for the interests of America. Now, you know, what -- what's -- what's it all about? We got -- we got little kids that are watching beer ads, you know. We got little kids that are watching wine ads, but, we know -- you know and I know that we buy a certain kind of car or a certain -- we wear a certain kind of slacks or what ever it is.
We wear them because, Paula, television tells us that that's the right thing to do. And so now for NBC's profit they're going to tell America that it's the right thing to do and our children and all the rest, lord knows I've drunk plenty of this stuff. You know, they're going to tell us that the right thing to do is to drink this particular kind of liquor for its profit.
ZAHN: So you think it's harmful?
SPENCE: It's profits!
ZAHN: So you think it's harmful. You think that it will lead to an increase in consumption. So, you think the kids see the ads, and then, ultimately, it wears us down.
SPENCE: Well, you -- you said better than I. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Of course it will. If it wouldn't, they wouldn't pay 400 -- how many -- how many hundred thousand dollars -- hundreds of millions is it?
ZAHN: $400 million a year.
SPENCE: How many?
ZAHN: 400 million.
SPENCE: 400 -- they aren't going to pay $400 million dollars...
ZAHN: ...for nothing in return.
SPENCE: ...without any return. So please, let's not --
ZAHN: But, but Jerry made the point.
DELLA FEMINA: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that 400 million -- if that 400 million is in print advertising right now, it's not on television, and that 400 million is made up --- and certainly, it's not -- it's not adding to young children -- young children looking at these ads and saying, "Oh, I -- I -- I'm going now drink because I saw an ad." Or wait, "I can't wait to see it on television."
(CROSSTALK)
ZAHN: Wait, wait, wait. But how many kids do you know have seen a Budweiser commercial that really aren't supposed to be up until -- at 9:00, and they can tell you every single word in a Budweiser commercial?
DELLA FEMINA: Absolutely.
ZAHN: You don't think there's any sort of effect down the road?
SPENCE: You bet.
ZAHN: Any influence?
DELLA FEMINA: I don't believe it -- it has as much of an influence as other kids saying "we're going to drink" or "we're going to have beer." You know how kids are. You think they're going to look at a commercial and suddenly say, "I'm going to drink?" Let's face it.
SPENCE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
ZAHN: Gerry does.
(CROSSTALK)
DELLA FEMINA: ...you're giving us too much credit.
SPENCE: Well, you know, I'll tell you. If -- if NBC had a face, which it doesn't. You know what it would do? If it had a face, it would go like this. I'm so ashamed. But I need the money.
DELLA FEMINA: I don't think it's money. I think, frankly, they're -- they're -- they're desperate, and they're going to -- they're going to advertise, but the fact is, they're not going to make the kind of money that they think they're going to make. Because, there's -- there's been, for many, many years, sort of a gentlemen's agreement, among liquor companies, not to advertise on television because it's too expensive. It's not -- and so they -- all it's going to do is basically try to change market share for some very, very few companies. Most companies cannot afford to advertise on television.
ZAHN: But if it works there, are you concerned that the other networks are going to follow suit?.
SPENCE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
ZAHN: I mean, so far, you've got ABC and Fox and CBS standing on the sidelines saying, "We're not going to do that."
SPENCE: Well, you but -- yeah, and they have a great opportunity to say, "we are above this. We stand above this." But, that won't happen, because no corporation has a face to cover in shame.
ZAHN: He thinks there's nothing shameful about it. He said it's almost a moot point because it represents a small part of the market.
DELLA FEMINA: It's a tiny part of the market. The fact is that, the greatest period of alcoholism -- I'll say it again -- 1920s. There wasn't -- we weren't allowed to drink liquor, let alone advertise it. There wasn't any television.
SPENCE: I don't understand the -- I don't understand the argument, Paula. If there wasn't something that would, you know, if they -- they couldn't get more people to drink, you know. First of all, do you understand, that almost all -- a may -- a major portion, some people say 90 percent of the crimes of this country are liquor- related? So, when you start to think about the responsibility, it is -- it's just exactly what the American Medical Association said. It's an irresponsible act, and they should be stopped. They should be ashamed. The republic should -- should rise up in arms. But I'm afraid that it'll be silent out there.
DELLA FEMINA: My distinguished...
ZAHN: Five second closing thought? Someone's got to pay for this, you know, this segment.
DELLA FEMINA: My distinguished partner -- debating partner -- sounds like Carrie Nation in buckskin. I mean, is he calling for probation? Because, if it really is causing that much damage, then we should just eliminate it. Forget about advertising it. Eliminate it.
ZAHN: All right.
SPENCE: Well, I'm not calling for probation. I'm just calling for decency.
ZAHN: All right, gentlemen, I've got to leave it there this morning. Jerry Della Femina, Gerry Spence.
DELLA FEMINA: Pleasure
ZAHN: Nice to have you in town.
SPENCE: Nice to see you.
ZAHN: Do you know his wife makes those coats for him? Seriously...
DELLA FEMINA: It's great. It's a great coat.
ZAHN: Emma Jean (ph) makes those, doesn't she?
DELLA FEMINA: I would look terrific.
ZAHN: He owns a ton of those.
SPENCE: You would.
ZAHN: He has them in every color. Never leaves home with out them. Good to see you. Thank you very much.
SPENCE: Thank you, Paula.
DELLA FEMINA: Thank you.
ZAHN: Happy Holidays, gentlemen.
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