Adult audience guideline for Spirits Advertising and Marketing is now 73.8%

By: InfoLawGroup

There was an interesting new development recently in the world of alcoholic beverage marketing.  For those who may not be aware, alcoholic beverage marketing in the US is, in large part, overseen by various self-regulatory bodies, generally separated out by alcohol type—beer, wine, and spirits.   

One of the key principles of all of the various self-regulatory codes is that alcoholic beverage industry members respect the importance of responsible marketing practices to ensure that the industry is marketing exclusively to an adult audience.

In an announcement late last month, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) and American Distilled Spirits Alliance (ADSA), national trade associations representing the distilled spirits industry, increased the adult demographic placement standard in their respective advertising and marketing codes for distilled spirits to reflect new 2020 U.S. Census data.

Under the new demographic guideline, these trade associations changed their guidance to now indicate that spirits advertising and marketing should be placed in media only where at least 73.8 percent of the audience is reasonably expected to be above the legal purchase age (21+). The previous demographic standard was 71.6 percent 21+ which was grounded in the 2010 Census data.

These demographic numbers have been slowly edging their way up in all classes of alcoholic beverages, with the Beer Institute updating is code in 2022 to adopt a standard of 73.6% and the wine institute now also matching spirits with a 73.8% standard.

A census-based demographic standard reflecting the percentage of the population age 21 years and up was included as a key recommendation in the FTC’s 2008 Report on “Self-Regulation in the Alcohol Industry,” and the FTC commended the industry adoption of this standard in their 2014 Report.

If you have any questions on the newly updated standards or other questions about alcoholic beverage advertising, we are happy to help you navigate the complex framework of laws and regulations like we do for many of the biggest brands in the industry.

Originally published by InfoLawGroup LLP. If you would like to receive regular emails from us, in which we share updates and our take on current legal news, please subscribe to InfoLawGroup’s Insights HERE.