FTC Broadens Study of Alcohol Advertising

For the first time, the Federal Trade Commission is requiring the major alcoholic beverage advertisers to detail their use of digital marketing and data collection practices.

The move is part of the agency's periodic review to see how effective the industry's voluntary guidelines are in reducing marketing messages to underage audiences. Companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Diageo and Pernod Ricard must provide the information to the FTC by June 11. Over the years, alcohol advertisers have adopted more stringent guidelines concerning ads in media where 70 percent of the audience is 21 and older, up from a 50 percent threshold prior to 2003. The three main alcoholic beverage industry trade associations have also adopted compliance systems.