The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau of the US has issued a warning about wine advertising.
“We have found an increasing number of alcohol beverage advertisements, including company websites and social media accounts, depicting health-related statements that suggest a relationship between the consumption of an alcohol beverage and its purported health benefits or effects,” it said through its latest newsletter.
In the past five years, a number of wine companies have sprung up whose founders are allied to the wellness industry, from Dry Farm Wines to the anonymous makers of FitVine, to Cameron Diaz and Katherine Power who have just launched their Avaline wine. These wines are frequently positioned as a healthier alternative to other wines.
“Swirl Wine. Burn Calories,” promises FitVIne.
“We remind industry members that the TTB advertising regulations prohibit any health-related statement that is untrue in any particular or tends to create a misleading impression as to the effects of consumption on health,” the TTB statement went on.
Any producer who is unsure if their marketing materials is in compliance with the law or not can submit it for TTB review, free of charge.
The next issue of Meininger’s Wine Business International, out at the end of August, will take a deep dive into this new alliance between wine companies and the wellness industry.
