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NBC to air liquor ads
graphic December 13, 2001: 7:08 p.m. ET

Network will run ads for distilled spirits after 9 p.m. on certain conditions.
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  • GE sees results in line - Dec. 11, 2001
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    NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - NBC said Thursday it will accept ads for hard liquor, making it the first major broadcaster to run distilled spirits ads in about 50 years.

    The change will allow the ads to run on the network after 9 p.m. NBC is a unit of General Electric (GE: Research, Estimates). Guinness UVB, maker of Smirnoff vodka and other distilled spirits, will be the first advertiser under the new policy.

    NBC's decision to run liquor commercials comes amid a recession that has depressed the television advertising market.

    The decision could anger people concerned about alcohol abuse as well as brewers, who have been able to advertise beer without worrying about competition from hard liquor.

    Officials at ABC, CBS and Fox said they had no plans to change their liquor advertising policies "at this time," Associated Press reported.

    The change at NBC does not come without strings, however. All liquor advertisers must commit to at least a four-month long, on-air social responsibility campaign that promotes responsible drinking and designated driver programs. In addition, no ads can show people drinking alcohol.

    As part of its advertising agreement, Guinness will kick off a multimillion-dollar responsibility campaign on the network this week.

    NBC is also limiting what kind of programs during which liquor ads would run. Officials said 85 percent of the audience for any show that would feature liquor ads must be at least 21-years-old and the actors in the ads must be at least 30-years-old.

    NBC also prohibits advertisers to feature active professional athletes endorsing its product.

    A network executive said it hopes that others following NBC down this path also embrace what it believes are fairly restrictive guidelines for any liquor ads. graphic

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    GE sees results in line - Dec. 11, 2001





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    Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

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