6
Hard Liquor
• Hard liquor is defined as any beverage legally classified as a distilled spirit, which
includes, but is not limited to whiskey, gin, vodka, rum, brandy, cordials, liqueurs,
fortified wines, and mixed products which contain hard liquor, including liquor-based
coolers, even if the percentage of alcohol in them is less than that contained in beer,
wine, or malt beverages.
• Pursuant to the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives advertising
for hard liquor must disclose the corporate name, city, and state of the brewer,
producer, packer, wholesaler, or importer responsible for its broadcast, as well as the
percentage of alcohol by volume.
• Scheduling Restrictions. Advertising for distilled spirits may be considered subject to the
following:
o As long as the content of the commercial is deemed otherwise acceptable,
hard liquor advertising will generally be permitted in some Sports
Programming, as the respective league allows, such as NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB,
etc., as well as entertainment programming airing post-10PM ET (9PM CT). In
addition to the above, such advertising may generally air in programming
where at least 85% of the audience composition is 21 years or older.
o Requests for exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis, taking
into consideration factors including: the type of alcohol product being
advertised (e.g., its % alcohol by volume); the content and tone of the
program into which the advertising is to be placed; the scheduled time and
audience composition (including the likelihood of co-viewing by minors) of
the program into which the advertising is to be placed; and the nature and
content of the proposed advertisement.
o Program integrations involving hard liquor products will be considered on a
limited basis and must be pre-approved by S&P. S&P review may entail
consultation with and/or approval of Senior Corporate Management. The
above guidelines, including the applicable mandatory disclosures, would
apply to any program integration.
Alcoholic Beverages in Other Advertising
In advertising for businesses which sell alcohol in addition to other products/services, such as
hotels, restaurants, airlines, etc., references to and/or visuals of alcoholic beverages are
acceptable without restriction when limited to generic/unbranded visuals and/or language such