When Rock Hudson and Jennifer Jones presented the award for best live action short film at Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences 30th Annual Awards (1958), Hudson accidentally read the winner for the best animated short film instead, which was "Birds Anonymous". Shortly after John W. Burton accepted the award, Hudson and Jones read the nominees for the best animated short, followed by the winner for the best live action short.
The title is a play on the organization Alcoholics Anonymous and is based on that program's 12-step principles to help people deal with alcohol addiction.
Color televisions were slowly but surely showing up in living rooms all across the United States at the time of this short's release.