NBC Becomes Second Network To Pull SABMiller Ads.

NBC will pull five SABMiller ads off the air that make unsubstantiated claims about taste preference, it advised Anheuser-Busch today. The decision came on the same day Anheuser- Busch announced that CBS also will pull three SABMiller ads because taste-test claims in the spots, which indicate a taste preference, are unsubstantiated.

“NBC’s decision further supports what we have known all along — that SABMiller’s taste-preference claims were not substantiated and their ads should be pulled,” said Michael J. Owens, vice president of sales and marketing for Anheuser-Busch, Inc.

NBC will pull the same ads that CBS also found to be unsubstantiated. In its decision, NBC also stated, “The ‘Penalty on the King’ commercial unfairly disparaged A-B by claiming that the Bud delivery man is ‘hiding something.'”

Anheuser-Busch announced earlier today that CBS will pull three SABMiller ads off the air, and two other discontinued ads that make claims about taste challenges in St. Louis and Chicago must be reviewed by CBS if SABMiller decides to run them on the network again.

“This is not about competition, it’s about the truth and being honest with consumers,” said Owens.