Anheuser-Busch signed a deal with Mobi-TV, a leading provider of television content to cell phone users, to broadcast 18 beer ads per hour

From podcasts to television on cell phones, the ways people get information are changing faster than regulations can keep up. As forms of "new media" emerge and become more sophisticated, alcohol companies are among the first to take advantage of these new marketing opportunities.

A recent survey of advertising budgets shows that spending for online advertising is growing faster than any other medium-eight times faster than television and six times faster than print¹. Since alcohol companies are supposed to limit advertising to a 30 percent or less underage audience, they face some restrictions when it comes to "measured media" such as television and print. But new media audiences are not always measured carefully, so the weaker protections and enforcement make online marketing attractive to alcohol companies who want to get around established codes.

A 2004 study released by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at Georgetown University showed that many youth were indeed able to access Web sites supposedly designed to keep out underage visitors. CAMY found that in the last six months of 2003, over 600,000 underage youth visited alcohol company Web sites. On some sites, underage youth made up a significant proportion of total visitors-58.6 percent on bacardi.com, 47.4 percent on skyy.com, and 34 percent on budlight.com². That's no surprise given that any teenager can bypass the ineffective age restrictions on these sites by entering a 21+ date of birth.

Coupled with lax age verification, many alcohol companies have designed their Web sites in a way that appeals to youth. Budlight.com, for example, is full of interactive features that have a broad appeal to teens. Visitors can play games, listen to music, watch and rate Bud Light ads, and send Bud Light emails to friends. There are also a number of items that can be downloaded, including alcohol branded desktop wallpaper, instant messaging icons, and screensavers.

In addition to its Web presence, Anheuser-Busch is also leading the way in other forms of new media marketing. In April, the beer giant signed a deal with Mobi-TV, a leading provider of television content to cell phone users, to broadcast 18 beer ads per hour, as reported by Advertising Age. In defense of the partnership, a spokesman for Mobi-TV said that although he didn't have specific figures, "most of the service's users were between 18 and 40 years old. We're definitely way below [the 30 percent underage threshold]³." And, though the company claims to be sensitive to the issues involved, it is unlikely that Mobi-TV could accurately track who sees these ads, given the portable and transferable nature of cell phones and other similar devices.

The brewer also launched a direct-to-consumer video channel in conjunction with this year's Super Bowl. The service delivers advertising straight to the computer desktop, effectively bypassing the potential for any scrutiny that typically occurs in traditional forms of media, like television. What's more, the content can then be downloaded onto iPods and other handheld devices for on-the-go advertising.

Despite the explosion of new ways to market alcohol, there is some positive news from the digital realm. Search giant Google, whose corporate motto is "Don't be evil," does not permit promotions for beer or liquor in its AdWords program⁴. Companies like Anheuser-Busch should follow Google's example and find ways to reduce youth exposure to alcohol advertising in new media rather than profit from it.

¹http://www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/advertising/article.php/3584801
²http://camy.org/research/internet0304/report-low.pdf
³A-B Under Fire for Cellphone Advertising. Advertising Age. April 6, 2006
⁴https://adwords.google.com/select/contentpolicy.html