Nothing hits the spot after a long day at work - or a long day on set - quite like a cold glass of your favorite adult beverage (as long as you’re over the legal drinking age in your place of residence, natch). But, just as we could barely get through that last sentence without making a legal disclaimer, if you’ve been selected to create video content for an adult beverage brand, there are many considerations you’ll need to be aware of, both legal and creatively.
Long before you capture your Martini Shot, you ought to familiarize yourself with some of the major rules for advertising in this industry and pay close attention to brand guidelines provided on the Project Brief here on Tongal. If you’re new to the world of adult beverage advertising, fear not! We’ll walk you through the high-level considerations and best practices surrounding this particular industry so you don’t land in hot water over a commercial for a cold one. While these guidelines are meant to inform, the ultimate reference will always be your client who works in this industry, so make sure to ask them plenty of questions and heed their directives.
Industry Guidelines
Each segment of the alcohol industry (beer, wine, distilled alcohol) has its own, self-regulated codes it chooses to abide by, many of which boil down to avoiding marketing to minors. According to the Federal Trade Commission,
"Among other provisions, these codes direct that no more than 28.4% of the audience for an ad may consist of people under 21, based on reliable audience data; and that ad content should not appeal primarily to people under 21." (Source)
For more information about the codes visit the websites for the Distilled Advertising Council of the United States, the Beer Institute, and the Wine Institute.
On a practical note, this will affect the content of your adult beverage video. The most pressing considerations involve how actors can and cannot interact with the product (ie: Talent CANNOT be seen drinking the product on camera), as well as that actors are required to be over age 25 while reasonably appearing to be of legal drinking age. Other creative considerations might be things like “Talent cannot appear to be visibly intoxicated” or even “Advertising should not contain the name of or depict Santa Claus” and “Wine shall not be presented as being essential to personal performance, social attainment, achievement, success or wealth.”
All this ties back to portraying the product to an adult audience in a responsible manner.
Beverage Stylist
As when working with any food and beverage product, you will likely want to hire a stylist for your shoot day to ensure the product looks as appetizing as possible in the final video. For Tongal projects, the brand may even ask to sign off on your choice of beverage stylist during the Pre-Production Phase. If you don’t already have a beverage stylist in your Rolodex, consider reaching out to your peers who have already worked in the food and beverage space or posting an inquiry on the Crew Finder section of the Tongal Community Forums.
With a suitable stylist on your team, the brand will next have a lot of direction regarding precisely how their beverage is served on screen. This may relate to what type of glass it’s meant to be enjoyed in (straight from the bottle or in a frosted mug?) or how it’s garnished (ice or no ice? And if so, what shape should the ice be? Twist of lime or orange wedge?). This is where your attention to detail will be most important, but again, the brand is a wonderful partner and resource for helping you achieve great results. Listen to them!
Legal Disclaimers
Lastly, you will be asked to include legal disclaimers on any type of advertising you create for an adult beverage brand. These disclaimers may include the percent of alcohol per volume, the name of the company that produces the alcohol and its location (see image below). Thankfully for all Tongal Projects, the Project Sponsors will be there to provide you with any legal language and necessary disclaimers and they’ll direct you on how to best employ them.
(source: The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau)
To close things out, there are a lot of reasons why you might want to produce content for an alcohol brand. The final commercials are often fun to watch and can be a slick addition to your reel, but as we’ve said, there are plenty of things you’ll need to watch out for if you’re new to the industry. We hope this brief introduction to some of the bigger considerations will set you on the right path. Cheers!
