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.

Truthful, nondeceptive alcohol advertising enjoys certain protections under the U.S. Constitution. 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 and the agency that monitors national advertising, filed a report to Congress on alcohol industry self-regulation (PDF; get Adobe Reader).

Let industry and government know if you see an alcohol ad you think violates the standards.

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:

1. File a complaint with the company,
2. File a complaint 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
   • Beer Institute
     122 C Street NW, Suite 350,
     Washington, DC 20001
   • Wine Institute
     425 Market Street Suite 1000
     San Francisco, CA 94105
3. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.