The information contained in “How to Post Sponsored Alcohol Content on Instagram Without Having it Removed“ is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not to be construed as legal advice. Reading this article or relying on information from this article does not ever create an attorney-client relationship between you and Katherine Jaquith (aka Kate Cooper). Please speak with a licensed attorney for personalized legal advice.
If you’re partnering with an alcoholic beverage company on Instagram and want to ensure that your content doesn’t get removed by the platform, then keep reading!
One of the worst things that can happen during an Instagram brand partnership is having your sponsored content removed. At that point you’ve probably spent weeks negotiating with the brand, nailing down contract terms, creating high-quality content, getting approvals, and making sure your post is primed and ready to go.
So to have the post removed can be devastating. Your audience may not engage with your content again when you repost it and it may affect the perceived success of your partnership.
If there’s any type of sponsored content that is likely to get removed, it’s content featuring alcohol. This doesn’t necessarily mean working directly with an alcoholic beverage company either. If you’re working with a hotel, restaurant, or tourism board and show alcohol in your content, you also run the risk of having it taken down if you don’t have the proper restrictions in place.
Why Does Instagram Remove Sponsored Alcohol Content?
Alcohol is a highly regulated substance. Different countries have different laws around alcohol advertisements. Some restrict advertising to certain age groups, while others ban alcohol advertising entirely. Since Instagram has a global reach, Meta needs to make sure that advertisements on the platform comply with the myriad laws that are out there.
It’s worth noting that in the United States, the 1st Amendment actually limits the FTC’s ability to regulate truthful alcohol advertising. Here the industry is largely self-regulated with its own sets of standards (for example, not advertising alcohol to minors or depicting irresponsible alcohol consumption).
Instagram is really good at spotting and taking down sponsored content featuring alcohol if proper restrictions aren’t in place. Even a quick clip of a glass wine or can of beer can trigger removal.
How to Post Sponsored Content Featuring Alcohol on Instagram
If you’re partnering with an alcoholic beverage company or are showing alcohol in a piece of sponsored content, follow these steps to prevent the content from getting removed.
Step 1: Use the Paid Partnership Label
Turn on the paid partnership label. This is a tool that you should always be using when posting sponsored content on Instagram to comply with Instagram’s Branded Content Policy.
Note: the use of the paid partnership tool alone is not a sufficient disclosure per the FTC. The content should still contain a proper disclosure, as discussed below.
Step 2: Set Minimum Ages
You need to set a minimum age for the content. Again, different countries have different minimum ages for alcohol advertising. The best practice is to set the default minimum age to 25, which is the oldest minimum age that you’ll find. Once you set the default minimum age you can add lower minimum ages for specific countries, as needed (ex. 21 in the U.S.).
Note: Some creators have reported that they’ve had to put age restrictions in place for their entire account to prevent having content removed, but others seem to be fine with just adding minimum ages to the specific piece of sponsored content. Check with the brand you’re working with or check your brand deal contract to see how they want you to proceed!
Step 3: Add Location Restrictions
Some countries restrict alcohol advertising entirely, so you need to add location restrictions to exclude those countries. Meta keeps a running list of countries to exclude.
At the moment it includes: Afghanistan, Brunei, Bangladesh, Egypt, Gambia, India (specifically Bihar, Gujarat, Lakshadweep, Manipur and Nagaland), Kuwait, Libya, Lithuania, Nepal, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
Step 4: Disclose the Partnership
As always, make sure you provide a proper disclosure in your caption and content to make your partnership with the brand clear. You may also want to include the minimum drinking age for the country you’re located in as well, so it’s clear who the content is for (ex. AD 21+ in the U.S.).
While I can’t guarantee that following these steps will prevent Instagram from removing your sponsored alcohol content, because you never know what Instagram and Meta are going to do, putting these restrictions and disclosures in place will give you the best odds of having your content stay up.
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