According to consumer groups, the beer industry's standards for advertising are not high enough. And they're not talking about their propensity to appeal to the lowest common denominator by showing belching contests and bikini-clad women. The New York Times reports that critics are upset because they do not feel the industry is abiding by their own standards and is still producing ads which are seen by children.

The industry self regulates via the Beer Institute, which creates guidelines and monitors advertising content. Their standard is to only air beer ads when no more than 30 percent of the audience is under the legal drinking age. Steven Rowe, attorney general of Maine and vocal critic, stands firm in his believe that the standard should be lowered to 15 percent. Critics also feel that the Beer Institute's advertising code, which state ads "should not portray beer drinking before or during activities, which for safety reasons, require a high degree of alertness or coordination," is being violated in ads. To support their "unsafe activities" claim, fingers are pointed at the ad aired during the Olympics that showed men drinking beer while pretending to be fixing their roofs, though beer companies stated that commercials obviously meant as parody were exceptions to the "unsafe activities" code, not violating any standards.

The claim about advertising to an underage audience seems problematic, however. While it may be easy to keep young children from viewing ads, at what time are ads supposed to air to prevent 18-20-year olds from viewing them -  5am? 6am? A significant portion of that age group, though they may be under the legal drinking age, watches the same shows at the same times at their twenty-something legal-to-drink counterparts. 

Only time will tell whether the more than the approximately $800 million dollars the beer industry spends each year on television advertising will be affected by consumer advocate groups. The industry might increase its own restrictions and cut back on advertising. The industry might make only serious ads, showing only moderately happy people in an ordinary bar holding - but not drinking - bottles of beer. Or, the industry might not take any action and continue with the strategy that appears to be working in favor of sales.