USA, St. Louis: In a marketing game now brewing between Anheuser-Busch and Miller, some question whether the rival beer makers using referees in commercial pitches have lost sight of true sportsmanship. "To some degree, it has become unusually personal," said Hoag Levins, editor and executive producer of Advertising Age magazine's Web site, AdAge.com. "Some of the advertising is really petty."

And risky, he says. Beer makers naming each other in TV spots could end up confusing consumers. His advice: Trumpet your own product, and leave the other guy out of it, Associated Press commented on January 8. "When you mention the competitor you're trying to crush, are you inadvertently burning the competitor's brand in the consumer's mind?" Levins said Friday. "There's a great deal of debate about how smart that is."

Lately, all the hubbub has bubbled up about Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Co.'s "Good Call" TV ad campaign, featuring a referee who pops up and penalizes drinkers of top-selling Bud and Bud Light drinkers for "unbeermanlike" conduct and other infractions. The official replaces the beer with Miller Lite or Miller Genuine Draft.

St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch countered with commercials suggesting the referees actually are stealing the Bud Light for themselves. According to some reports this week, ABC and its sister network ESPN rejected three proposed Anheuser-Busch spots spoofing the Miller ones.

ABC spokeswoman July Hoover refused to discuss what she called a confidential matter, saying "we never disclose dealings with our clients or the results of our reviews." ESPN also would not comment. The Walt Disney Co., the corporate parent of both networks, referred inquiries to ESPN.

Anheuser-Busch did not directly deny the report, issuing a statement saying its "ad campaigns are performing well in the marketplace and none have been pulled off the air by any networks." Francine Katz, an Anheuser-Busch spokeswoman, said Friday "we have no plans to pull the spots," crediting them with improved sales of Bud Light and low-carb Michelob Ultra. "We believe there's no doubt these spots are part of our success," she said.

"I can tell you that people tell us our ads are hysterical and they love them. We look to entertain consumers; we don't worry about what competitors like or don't like about our commercials." She declined to discuss Anheuser-Busch's advertising strategy, including whether the spots would continue challenging Miller by name: "Who's to say." "As a much smaller company with an 18 (percent) share competing against Anheuser-Busch with more than 50 percent of the market, it is very beneficial for us to ask consumers to compare Miller's beers versus Anheuser-Busch's beers," Miller spokesman Pete Marino said.

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