BRITISH LIQUOR AD BAN LIFTED
By Adnews Staff
Britain lifted a 40-year ban last week on television advertising for spirits. This means consumers could see whisky, vodka and gin advertising by the late summer. The Independent Television Commission ended the ban because it was seen as discrimination. For years, TV advertising has only been allowed for beer, wines and liqueur. In the 1950s, the big spirits groups reached an informal agreement to stop running commercials for hard liquor, and this eventually became part of the general code of conduct among independent television companies. In Canada, the Association of Canadian Distillers launched a lawsuit in 1990 against the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, to have a ban on TV liquor ads stricken because it is a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In December last year the CRTC indicated it agreed with the liquor producers. The federal broadcast regulator made a joint submission in Federal Court to have the ban quashed. However, the judge refused to do so, and told the CRTC it was free to repeal its own ad ban. But to make such a repeal, the CRTC would have to hold public hearings, and in the past the members of the public have told such hearings they favor keeping the ban. The judge said the CRTC appeared to be trying to get distillers the same ad rights as beer and wine makers without holding a hearing.