Alcoholic beverages: tied-house restrictions: instructional events and promotional lectures: advertisements

The law permits more visual and video-based promotion of these events while retaining tied-house safeguards against supplier-funded retailer promotion and price advertising.

What the law does ​

• Allows event ads to include, or consist of, pictures, illustrations, videos, and graphical depictions.
• Allows ads to show a retailer’s premises, personnel, and customers, including retailer social-media posts that are reposted in compliance with the law.
• Limits videos of a retailer’s premises, personnel, or customers to 60 seconds.
• Removes the former requirement that retailer-related information and images be relatively inconspicuous in event advertising.
• Allows wine promotional-lecture ads to include visual and video depictions of the wine supplier.
• Allows licenseholders and on-sale retailers to advertise instructional tasting events without limiting the permitted ad formats to specified media.
• Continues to bar retail prices, praise of retailers, and advertising that promotes a retailer beyond its event participation.
• Continues to prohibit alcohol suppliers from sharing the cost of a retailer’s event advertising.

Who it affects ​

• Winegrowers, wine importers, beer manufacturers, spirits suppliers, wholesalers, and their authorized representatives.
• Off-sale and on-sale alcohol retailers hosting instructional events, tastings, or wine promotional lectures.
• Consumers attending advertised alcohol instructional events and tastings.

Context ​

The changes apply within California's tied-house rules, which separate alcohol suppliers, wholesalers, and retailers to limit improper supplier influence over retail sales.