Alcohol Advertising
Talk to your kids about alcohol ads.
Alcohol advertising and marketing is widespread. All of us encounter commercial messages from a myriad of sources every day. What's a parent to do?
- Next time your family sits down to watch TV, use the occasion as a "teachable moment" to talk about advertising in general, and alcohol advertising in particular.
- Encourage your teen to learn how to tell the difference between the facts and the hype and to become a smarter, more responsible, and more confident consumer.
- Educators call learning to read between the lines in an ad "media literacy." Visit the National Center for Alcohol and Drug Information for information on how to look at ads with a critical eye.
Learn more about alcohol advertising standards.
Alcohol advertisers have pledged to comply with self-regulatory codes designed to limit targeting of teens. Among other provisions, these codes direct that no more than 30 percent of the audience for an ad may consist of people under 21, and that ad content should not appeal primarily to people under 21. The Federal Trade Commission, the nation's consumer protection agency, monitors compliance with the codes and has published the results of three major studies on alcohol advertising. You can get the reports online:
Let industry and the government know if you see an alcohol ad you think violates the standards.
This page links to websites of other organizations. The FTC does not necessarily endorse the views expressed on these websites or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of information on them. Please note that these sites may track visitor viewing habits.
If you believe that an ad doesn't comply with the alcohol industry's self-regulatory codes, file a complaint in any of three ways:
- with the company,
- with one of the alcohol industry’s self regulatory organizations:
- Distilled Spirits Council of the United States
1250 Eye Street, NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005 [we need a hyperlink but it needs a buffer that says you’re leaving the WDST site:
http://www.discus.org/responsibility/complaint.asp - Beer Institute
122 C Street NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
http://www.beerinstitute.org/tier.asp?bid=249 - Wine Institute
425 Market Street Suite 1000
San Francisco, CA 94105
http://www.wineinstitute.org/initiatives/
issuesandpolicy/adcode/complaints - with the Federal Trade Commission
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov
Don't serve alcohol to teens.
It's unsafe. It's illegal. It's irresponsible.