By Cliff Peale
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Procter & Gamble Co. will not advertise on major broadcast networks during the first 48 hours of any war in Iraq, and will avoid buying ads on war news coverage for the duration of any conflict.

The Cincinnati-based maker of Bounty, Iams and Herbal Essences - one of the world's biggest advertisers - said it would restrict its television commercials mostly to entertainment programs on cable television.

With most people assuming a war could start soon, advertisers around the country are making plans.

Once the war starts, networks and cable news networks probably will broadcast around the clock for at least several days, eliminating most advertisements.

Anticipation of a war has caused many advertisers to delay their buying plans.

But most should resume buying once it becomes clear whether the war will last four days or four months or even longer, said Bill Fee, general manager at Cincinnati's WCPO-TV.

"Some advertisers are a little timid because they just want to see what's going to happen," Fee said. "But I'm confident that, especially if this is a short conflict, we're going to be back to normal in a month or so."

That cautious approach certainly applies at P&G. Its policy is the same as the last Gulf War in the early 1990s, spokeswoman Gretchen Muchnick said.

The policy is "respectful" of consumers who might not want to view advertisements during coverage of an international conflict, she said.

"We'll go back to advertising (on the networks) when our ads can be viewed in family and entertainment programming," she said.

Fee wouldn't talk about specific advertisers at WCPO.

He said ad buys for January were "robust," compared to 2001, but that the bad weather in February and war talk in March has depressed demand.

Prices probably are lower than they would be without the war possibilities, he said.

"Some advertisers have expressed a reluctance to move ahead with their advertising until we understand how deep a conflict is going to go," Fee said. "But ultimately, advertisers must advertise."

E-mail cpeale@enquirer.com