
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 31, 1993                   TAG: 9308310055
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: LONDON                                LENGTH: Short

CLINTON'S PHOTO GONE FROM BRITISH BEER ADS

Molson will stop using pictures of President Clinton in a British ad campaign to promote its Special Dry beer.

"Even though the campaign was in keeping with marketing practices [in Britain], it had crossed a line and offended some sensibilities in North America, and as a result we have elected to withdraw the campaign," said Charles Fremes, the company's senior vice president for corporate and public affairs.

There had been no complaints from the White House, Fremes said in a telephone interview from the Canadian brewing company's headquarters in Vancouver.

The Molson ads featured a large picture of Clinton opposite copy that read: "One of the things that I've learned this year is that a strong beer can have a really clean taste. My wife is more of a beer drinker than I am, and she's the one who first cottoned on to Molson Special Dry."

In small print, the ad explained that the quote is from a London beer drinker, not from Clinton.

"I want to be clear that we haven't had any consumer reaction. We're taking the pre-emptive strike, if you will, of having observed the reaction once it is out in the marketplace - mostly from Molson internal people," Fremes said.

by CNB