OK, I don't know what the proper english term is. It's a translation from Russian. But I wonder if it works in the US, of if it doesn't, why not? Here's the deal.

It is illegal in Russia to advertize alcoholic beverages, say, on TV. Russian companies routinely avoid this law using the following trick. Say, they want to advertize Stolichnaya which is clearly a known brand. The purpose is therefore not so much to introduce a new product as "remind" people of it. The owner of the brand start producing candies "Stolichnaya" which you can buy in exactly two stores in the entire country from 2-3 AM if the guard is not asleep.

Then they run the ad, which says something like:

"Stolichnaya. Best for breakfast, dinner, supper. Puts your kids to sleep in no time. Great for partying" *cough*verygoodcandy*cough*

The candy wrapper looks virtually identical to vodka's label with perhaps minor changes (e.g. no word "vodka" visible anywhere). The wrapper floats in the air or whatever. Three people on the background just happen to be drinking water. The problem's solved.

Is there anything like that in the US? How is this problem resolved?

1/17/2006 2:12:54 PM

i can't think of anything that blatant offhand, but i'm sure something at least analogous goes on. maybe an example will come to mind.

1/17/2006 2:22:16 PM

no we let advertisers do pretty much whatever they want, gamemanship like this is usually left to the corporations that try to find as many loopholes as they can to pay less taxes.

1/17/2006 2:26:06 PM

^ "

I'm thought about the history of advertisment of perscription drugs. From http://www.pbs.org/now/science/drugads2.html

Quote :

"Advertising directed at consumers helps spur drug sales, as it is designed to do. In 1983 the FDA requested a voluntary hold on drug ads until it could study the effects of advertising on the market. In 1985 the FDA ruled that such ads must also list the possible side effects of any medication. Then came the era of "reminder ads," those vague images of happy users with mention of the brand name, but no mention of the condition it was to treat. The FDA was again disturbed, and studied the issue. This led to new guidelines in 1997, which required television advertising to mention side effects, but didn't require extensive detail. This ruling signaled disappointment for some consumer groups. The controversy over the best way to regulate direct-to-consumer advertising goes on."

A more cynical approach? This is how the process works in the United States:

1) Let's say there is something that you can't advertise on TV.
2) The people that want to sell it and stand to make a lot of money through advertising pretty much throw money at the politicians until they relax the laws.
3) If another group with money feels like they relaxed them too much they throw money at the politicians until they are tightened back up.

An interesting area to pay attention to in a matter that may mirror the one you are talking about is the case where they are trying to ban alcohol ads during college sporting events.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/03/commentary/column_sportsbiz/sportsbiz/[/link]

[Edited on January 17, 2006 at 2:36 PM. Reason : -]

1/17/2006 2:31:28 PM

One big thing is the the poker gambling sites like pokerstars

The advertise as pokerstars.net an educational site all over when all you have to do is is
goto pokerstars.com to get the real gambling site which is illegal to advertise

1/17/2006 6:29:25 PM

^one of my fav. loopholes.

1/17/2006 7:23:27 PM

I thought the malt beverages were mainly created for this loophole

1/17/2006 11:23:30 PM

here in america they sell alcohol like that too

but instead of candy

they just use sex

1/17/2006 11:39:22 PM

As far as direct advertising like commercials goes, nothing leaps to mind. The only thing I can think of that you can't advertise on TV is tobacco and maybe hard liquor, and I can't recall offhand ever having noticed an indirectly pro-cigarette TV add.

For a while they get around it through other media rather than the banned one. "Cool" TV or movie characters might smoke, for example. But even then, I can't think of a lot of instances where brands were made obvious. And nowadays, even in movies the "cool kids" that smoke tend to pay for it -- see "Constantine." I'm sure someone, somewhere, thought Keanu Reeves was cool in that movie. Maybe.

For the most part, though, these companies just focus their efforts where they are allowed to advertise. There's a lot of cigarette billboards and a lot of beer commercials, and neither skimps on magazine ads.

1/18/2006 2:23:48 AM

Back when TV ads for hard liquor were illegal, companies like Smirnoff and Barcardi, started making products like smirnoff ice and Barcardi Silver to be able to promote the brand name on TV. Note quite as obvious as candies, but basically for the same purpose.

Pretty much what quiet guy said.



[Edited on January 18, 2006 at 2:37 AM. Reason : ]

1/18/2006 2:36:35 AM

Hard liquor advertisements in the U.S. do almost the same thing.

They're highly regulated on broadcast T.V., so in order to get around various rules instituted by broadcasters and fed/state gov'ts, we get "public service announcements" sponsored by liquor companies. Notice that every hard liquor commercial ends in "xxxxx reminds you to drink responsibly," or they remind us to have a DD, even though the clear intent of the PSA is to get us to buy their liquor.

Lately they've become more brazen, though (Bacardi, Bailey's, and Tanqueray come to mind)

1/18/2006 2:48:44 AM

To expand on what boonedocks, advertising hard liquor is tightly in the United States. Therefore, brands like Baccardi and such either do things like the "drink responsibly" campaigns or make these "light" drinks to advertise their brands. That's one of the big reasons why there's been such a big push for these new low alcohol fru-fru drinks manufactured by traditional liquor companies.

1/18/2006 1:33:35 PM

does advertising alcoholic beverages to russians seem pointless to anyone else?

1/18/2006 2:08:21 PM

^ there are still tons of brands and varieties there that one has to choose from. the ads are less about encouraging people to drink and more about encouraging people to drink a specific product.

1/18/2006 2:21:57 PM

Well, that and Russians are somewhere in the middle in Europe in terms of consumption of alcohol. That being despite what an idiot like bigben may think.

1/18/2006 2:27:37 PM

are you drunk right now?

1/18/2006 3:30:01 PM

i blame cheese

1/18/2006 3:52:44 PM

umbrellaman advertising?

1/18/2006 4:48:35 PM

In Soviet Russia, beer drinks you!

1/18/2006 4:59:37 PM

everyone knows the fall of the USSR was a combination of Ray Stevens and alcoholic beverages.

1/18/2006 11:43:42 PM