The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) published an Industry Circular on the Use of Social Media in the Advertising of Alcohol Beverages on Nov. 1. This industry circular provides a basis for voluntary compliance with the Federal Alcohol Administration Act and the TTB advertising regulations with regard to alcohol beverage advertising on the various forms of social media, both in terms of required mandatory statements and prohibited practices or statements.
This circular modifies and supersedes TTB Industry Circular 2022-2 to allow industry members to use links or link sharing sites (such as LinkTree) to satisfy mandatory advertising information requirements (name and address, class designation, etc.).
It also allows industry member advertisements made through influencers to use “tags” to the industry member’s page to satisfy mandatory advertising information requirements as long as the industry member’s page is compliant.
From the TTB Industry Circular, regarding use of Linked Content for Mandatory Information:
TTB recognizes that some social media, such as social network services and media sharing sites, restrict the space available to provide mandatory information. TTB’s objective is to ensure consumers are provided with mandatory information in a manner that is readily legible, apparent, and conspicuous to the consumer. On social media platforms, a link that directs consumers to a page containing the mandatory product information satisfies this objective while reducing the burden on our regulated industry. The link should be clearly named or marked to indicate that the mandatory company and/or product information can be found by clicking on the link (for example, “Product Information”). The link should take the user directly to the mandatory information, and the information should be readily apparent, conspicuous, and legible. The link should not require the consumer to take additional steps to view the mandatory information, for example, creating an account or signing in to another social media platform. The link also should not take the user to a more general website that would require additional actions to find the information. On social media platforms where there are restrictions on the number of links that can be directly shared, a link to a link sharing site or reference landing webpage (for example LinkTree) where the product information link is prominently displayed satisfies the requirement to provide mandatory information.
If mandatory information is provided via a link on a social media platform, the social media advertisement must still contain sufficient information about the product to ensure that it is not misleading. For example, if a product requires a statement of composition, such as, “vodka with natural flavors,” and the advertisement refers to such product only as “vodka,” the full statement of composition would be required to appear as part of the product advertisement so consumers are not misled about the identity or quality of the product.
From the TTB Industry Circular regarding Social Media Influencers:
[4]Social Media Influencers (SMIs) are personas on social media who have audiences or followers on social media platforms who sometimes use their influence to persuade their audience to purchase products. Material produced by SMIs, on behalf of an alcohol beverage industry member for the purpose of inducing sales of that industry member’s products in interstate or foreign commerce, must comply with the TTB advertising regulations as specified in the general section above. These individuals may be compensated (monetary payments, provision of free products, etc.) for their endorsement of a product, or for product placement as part of an associated activity. For example, an SMI with a focus on cooking may be compensated to use a particular brand of wine in instructional videos when demonstrating a recipe. These posts, which may include text or other media, will typically appear on the SMI’s own social media account or page, instead of appearing on the industry member’s social media account or page.
If the posts directly or indirectly advertise an industry member, brand, or specific product, TTB may consider such posts made by the SMI to be advertisements. In making this determination, TTB will consider:
- whether or not an industry member directly, indirectly, or through an affiliate published, disseminated, or caused to be published or disseminated, any advertisement; in this case, the SMI’s posts; or,
- if the SMI was compensated directly or indirectly by the industry member in return for the endorsement.
Industry members must ensure that SMI posts include all mandatory advertising statements. This may be satisfied with a clearly marked link to another webpage that contains all mandatory information, as discussed above. If an industry member advertises on an SMI page that restricts the use of external links, a tag to the industry member’s page within that platform, for example using the @ symbol, will satisfy the mandatory information requirements as long as the industry member’s page is compliant.
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