The Salt Lake Tribune
Thursday, December 11, 2008
It pays to advertise
For years, it was illegal to advertise hard liquor in Utah.

Bars couldn't even hang a "Budweiser" sign in the window. Port o' Call had the word "Ghosts" in its sign, because it couldn't use the word "spirits."

A convenience store on North Temple for years displayed a large sign that read "Cold Beer Nuts" (though the word "Nuts" was in much smaller print) on one side, and "Cold Bee? - Welcome to Utah" on the other. The store kept a case of Beer Nuts and a small plush-toy bee in the freezer, lest it be accused of false advertising.

The law against liquor ads was struck down by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2001, following a 1996 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a similar Rhode Island law.

Now, quietly, the state of Utah has taken the position of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

As the Tribune's Dawn House reports today, the state has started running ads - one of them in last week's Salt Lake City Weekly - touting discounts at the state's liquor stores.

The ads "have been long overdue in coming," said City Weekly Publisher Jim Rizzi.

(Photo: Paul Fraughton/The Salt Lake Tribune)

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posted by Sean P. Means @ 9:33 AM |

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