OPINION: Stuart Elliott in America.(Boston Beer Co. sponsors radio promotion)(Brief Article)(Column)

In an era when some advertisers deliberately seek to demarcate the line between acceptable content and alienating consumers, how far is too far? One marketer, to its shock, has found out the hard way.

The Boston Beer Company, a successful boutique brewer, is reeling from the backlash against a backfiring promotional stunt on a popular radio show, which threatens to jeopardise sales of its flagship Samuel Adams Boston Lager brand. The show, heard by an estimated ten million listeners daily in 18 major markets, originated from WNEW-FM, a New York station owned by the media giant Viacom, which also is forced to deal with the fallout.

The stunt was the brainchild of the hosts of the hit afternoon Opie and Anthony Show, Gregg (Opie) Hughes and Anthony Cumia, among the most outrageous 'shock jocks' on American radio. As part of an annual contest called 'Sex for Sam', the station broadcast live reports of listeners hooking up in public places. The coupling couples would score by scoring, amassing points to win a trip to visit the brewery of Boston Beer - a regular WNEW advertiser - for a concert.

Earlier in the contest, now in its third year, Opie and Anthony Show listeners had made the beast with two backs in such locales as department stores and train stations. Then, on 15 August, the station broadcast a couple having sex in the vestibule of St Patrick's Cathedral, near Catholics worshipping on a feast day. Listeners heard a producer of the show narrate the stunt over his cell phone, as if it were a baseball game.

This time, though, Opie and Anthony struck out. The amorous contestants were arrested, as was the producer. The ensuing firestorm was fierce even by the ...