by Thomas A. Hemphill

About the author: Economist Thomas A. Hemphill is a fiscal officer for the New Jersey Department of State.

In the fall of 1995, TBWA Chiat/Day, a New York City advertising agency, began pitching a potential ad campaign for Seagram’s Absolut vodka, the number one selling distilled spirit in the United States. It aimed the pitch at a number of cable television networks, including CNN, Comedy Central, E!, and Bravo. The marketing probe by Seagram America initiated what has become a direct challenge to a voluntary broadcast ban, begun in 1936 for radio and in 1948 for television, by the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS). The Washington, D.C.–based national industry association, to which Seagram belongs, represents liquor producers and marketers. Liquor producers have resented for...