The Attorney Generals from 21 states believe that Anheuser-Busch isn’t doing enough to keep underage kids off its Bud.tv site, Advertising Age is reporting. While they aren’t threatening to sue just yet, they have sent a stern warning stating

“We feel strongly that since you are creating the programming and controlling the internet-based network, not just advertising on it, you have a higher responsibility to ensure that youth are not exposed to the marketing on your site,” the letter to A-B reads. “We fail to see how your use of age verification on the Bud.tv site is a genuine attempt to keep youth from accessing the site’s content.”

Apparently asking people to enter their birth date isn’t good enough for lawyers - even though you can’t actually buy beer from the website! Apparently, they are calling for more follow up - phone calls and/or mailings to the person to ensure that the registrant is who they say they are.

Today’s technology, I suppose, could do something like that. I’ve made two purchases recently - for web hosting and for a web template design - that had a computer call me up and I had to enter a pin number to verify I was who I said I was before they’d complete my order.

A-B could do something similar, but I have to wonder how effective that would be. If kids are lying about their age, wouldn’t they just lie when an automated system called them up?

The AGs also found fault with A-B’s attempts at viral marketing, which they claim defeats the purpose of having viewers register. If users can send the video to friends to view, there’s a chance that kids under 21 will see it as well.

The whole spiel makes me curious about what A-B is broadcasting on Bud.tv. Is it really just advertising and product placement for their line of alcoholic beverages? And if so, how is that different from, say, turning on any sporting event and seeing beer commercials? I thought they were actually broadcasting shows with some semblance of a storyline and focused around something other than hard partying 20-somethings drinking beer…