ABC and ESPN reject three Anheuser ads

Modern Brewery Age,  Jan 10, 2005  

Tags: ABC Inc., advertisement, ESPN

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Anheuser-Busch was hoist on its own petard last week, as ABC and its sister cable network ESPN rejected three Anheuser-Busch commercials that spoof two advertising campaigns of rival Miller Brewing, according to media reports released last week.

The rejection came soon after the four major U.S. broadcast networks pulled some Miller Lite commercials when Anheuser-Busch filed a complaint about the spots.

The rejected Anheuser-Busch ads are apparently parodies of the Miller ads that were pulled. One of them is said to be a parody of Miller's referee ad campaign. This one was rejected because the networks said it it featured an actor "performing an action that is criminal, dangerous, and easy to imitate."

Other ads were parodies of the ads in which actors yelled through a bullhorn at Anheuser-Busch breweries. ABC said that since the Miller commercials that the Anheuser-Busch ads mock were pulled from the air, Anheuser-Busch could not use the parodies.

Anheuser-Busch declined to comment about the rejection of the ads, noting that none of its ads were actually pulled from the air.

The action by ABC was said to be an internal one, enforced by its standards division. Miller had not filed a complaint about the new A-B ads.

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