Drinks brands agree to restrict online advertising
A host of top drinks brands, including Smirnoff and Baileys, have agreed to restrict their online advertising and ban under 18s from viewing their content via social networking channels.
Drink advertising restricted
The voluntary code of practice will curtail what has become the primary medium for promoting alcoholic drinks on websites, social networks, blogs and mobile apps.
Devised by the European Forum for Responsible Drinking (EFRD), an umbrella group for alcohol distillers, introduced the measure in a bid to head off the threat of an all-out ban – as occurred in the tobacco industry.
It will see restrictions placed on official branded pages to users under the age of 18 with more rigorous policing for “inappropriate content” posted by users. Advertising will only be placed in locations where 70% or more of the audience are aged above the key age.
Alan Butler, Chairman of the EFRD, said: “Digital marketing is becoming increasingly important in our engagement with consumers. These new guidelines will ensure that we apply the same high standards to all new media channels and technologies including social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook.”