To millions of American adults, the cartoon-like "Bud Bowl" beer commercial during the Super Bowl was silly, funny or dumb--depending on your tastes.

But to a growing legion of health officials and educators, it was exactly what is wrong with government regulations on alcohol advertising. The commercials--especially those that use cartoons, sports themes or drop-dead gorgeous models--catch the eye of underage youths and may encourage them to drink, they charge.

That assertion is blasted by beer industry executives, who now are in a fierce showdown with health officials over the ads.

The battle will pivot on proposed federal legislation to affix health warnings on all radio and TV ads touting alcoholic beverages. Right now, health warnings are mandatory only on product labels.

"The intention is to provide a counterbalance to all the pro-drinking messages you see," says Jeffrey Hon, a spokesman for the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.

The bill, called the Sensible Advertising and Family Education Act (SAFE Act), is co-sponsored by the bipartisan team of Rep. Joseph Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.). Kennedy, who introduced the legislation in 1991, was joined in the effort last year by Thurmond, whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver.

But the bill has raised two key questions on alcohol use among underage drinkers:

* Do the current crop of beer ads persuade people under 21 to drink?

* Would health messages flashed on the screen at the end of a beer ad help curb underage drinking?

The answers to these questions are unknown, although almost everyone involved in the issue has an opinion.

Scientific studies are vague and contradictory. There is no proof that beer ads directly influence drinking. But a score of earlier studies showed that children as young as 10 retain information in these ads. And, in the strongest data yet on the subject, new research suggests that the ads are linked to "more favorable beliefs about drinking" among young children, which may predispose them to eventually drink.

The study, by California researchers, examined what fifth- and sixth-grade children thought about alcohol. The children who were more knowledgeable about beer ads also held more positive beliefs about drinking, researchers found. For example, children may have agreed with the statement: "Having a few beers is a good reward."