# Did hard liquor sales diminish when their ads were banned from TV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2002, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hard-liquor-sales-diminish-when-their-ads-were-banned-from-tv/121418 "2002-07-29T20:14:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hard-liquor-sales-diminish-when-their-ads-were-banned-from-tv/121418/1 "2002-07-29T20:14:00Z")
Did hard liquor sales diminish when their ads were banned from TV? I have heard that there are similar efforts to ban beer commercials (what would the Superbowl be without Bud commercials?) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hard-liquor-sales-diminish-when-their-ads-were-banned-from-tv/121418/2 "2002-07-29T22:26:42Z")
IIRC hard liquor ads were effectively banned from TV (and radio)in the U.S. until the late 1980s, so there’s no baseline to judge a decline. I suppose the bigger question would be how have liquor sales increased re: advertising expenditures since liquor advertising has been allowed on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hard-liquor-sales-diminish-when-their-ads-were-banned-from-tv/121418/3 "2002-07-30T01:38:04Z")
IIRC, hard liquor ads were not banned, it was a voluntary thing. I don’t remember where I read that, though. Anyone else know about that? ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2002, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hard-liquor-sales-diminish-when-their-ads-were-banned-from-tv/121418/4 "2002-07-30T04:25:56Z")
yes, it’s voluntary. liquor ads started running on NBC (during SNL) about six months ago, without any change in legislation. Bacardi, maybe? jb ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2002, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hard-liquor-sales-diminish-when-their-ads-were-banned-from-tv/121418/5 "2002-07-30T05:38:06Z")
The ban started in 1948 (by the liquor companies, not the networks); I doubt there was any significant effect on liquor habits at that time. There’s no question that a government effort to ban beer ads would face a serious First Amendment problem these days. ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2002, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hard-liquor-sales-diminish-when-their-ads-were-banned-from-tv/121418/6 "2002-07-30T07:00:39Z")
Well what’s considered hard liquor? I see liquor commercials on TV all the time. ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2002, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hard-liquor-sales-diminish-when-their-ads-were-banned-from-tv/121418/7 "2002-07-30T07:51:57Z")
Hard liquor is distilled spirits – pretty much anything other than beer or wine, really. “Malt beverages” with hard liquor tie-ins don’t count, either, as there’s no actual liquor in these (your various Smirnoff Ices, your Bacardi Silvers, and so on).