Facebook Alcohol Advertising: Compliance, Best Practices & Approval Guide

Alcohol ads are allowed on Facebook, but only if your campaigns follow Meta’s alcohol policy and local drinking laws in each country you target. If you ignore these rules, your ads can be rejected, limited in delivery, or your account can lose advertising access.

To run alcohol campaigns correctly, you must do three things: 

• Only target people who are old enough to drink in that market
• Choose locations where alcohol ads are legal
• Keep your ad content responsible. 

That means no minors in your visuals, no health or performance claims, and no scenes that show excessive or unsafe drinking, such as drunk driving.

From there, success comes down to how you set up and manage campaigns. For this, you basically need to use Meta’s age and location controls properly, choose the right budget method (ABO or CBO), and design creatives that pass review consistently. 

In the rest of this guide, you’ll see how Meta’s alcohol rules work in detail, how to build compliant campaigns step by step, and what to change when your Facebook alcohol ads are disapproved.

Overview of Facebook Alcohol Advertising Policies

Meta’s alcohol policy allows brands to advertise alcohol on Facebook and Instagram, but only within the limits set by local law and industry codes. You can show alcohol ads in countries where selling or promoting these products is legal, and Meta publishes guidance on age thresholds for each approved market, such as the United States, Canada, Sweden, Iceland, and Japan.

Alcohol advertising is not allowed in regions where the sale, consumption, or promotion of alcohol is illegal, including certain markets in the Middle East and South Asia. Even in approved locations, you must respect stricter local rules; for example, Meta requires alcohol ads aimed at Sweden to use 25+ targeting because Swedish law bans alcohol marketing to younger audiences.

Meta also expects brands to follow industry self‑regulatory codes, such as those from DISCUS and the Beer Institute, when planning social media alcohol campaigns. These codes cover where ads run, how audiences are composed, and how alcohol is depicted in creative ways.

What Is Facebook Alcohol Advertising?

Alcohol advertising on Facebook basically involves running paid ads that promote alcoholic beverages or businesses on the social media platform. However, these ads must not necessarily be from brands selling alcohol. They can also be promotions for events that depend on alcohol sales, invitations to alcohol venues, or recipes for alcoholic products. In other words, as long as it shows alcohol, it falls within the category of Facebook’s alcohol ads. 

Facebook’s policy for advertising alcohol applies to Instagram. This means that your Instagram alcohol advertising campaigns must adhere to local laws and regulatory guidelines. 

It’s critical for advertisers to understand Facebook’s requirements for promoting alcoholic products and brands because one misstep can lead to penalties. For instance, Facebook will not publish ads that violate local regulations in specific countries, such as targeting audiences below the legal drinking age. Severe or constant policy breaches can even lead to losing your business or ad account. These alcohol ad penalties also apply to campaigns on Instagram. 

Legal & Industry Regulations

Since alcohol ad compliance on Facebook depends on local and industry regulations, advertisers must familiarize themselves with the necessary requirements. Compliance starts with knowing which audiences you can target, the applicable age restrictions, and the industry codes guiding your advertising efforts. This section will cover these details exhaustively. 

Local, State, National Laws – Drinking Ages and Licensing per Region

Facebook has a list of countries where you can run social media alcohol ads, alongside the age restrictions for these locations. Age limits help with age-gating your ads so it’s not displayed to underage individuals, thereby violating Meta’s policies and local laws. Below are the list of regions your alcohol ads can target:

• Cameroon: 21 years or older
• Canada: 19 years or older
• Iceland: 20 years or older
• Japan: 20 years or older
• Korea: 19 years or older
• Micronesia: 21 years or older
• Nicaragua: 19 years or older
• Palau: 21 years or older
• Paraguay: 20 years or older
• Solomon Islands: 21 years or older
• Sri Lanka: 21 years or older
• Sweden: 25 years or older
• United States: 21 years or older

Some countries have alcohol regulations that vary by state. India falls into this category, with different states having specific age restrictions for alcohol sales and promotions. If you’re targeting audiences in India, here are the list of cities where your ads can run and their age limits:

• 25 years or older in Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, or Punjab.
• 21 years or older in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Dama and Diu, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, or West Bengal.
• 18 years or older in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Mizoram, Puducherry, Rajasthan and Sikkim.

You can run Facebook alcohol ads in countries outside the authorized list (as long as they’re not part of the prohibited locations). However, your ads must adhere to all applicable laws and only target individuals aged 18 or older. 

Self-Regulatory Codes – Discus, Beer Institute Audience Composition Rules

A core part of Meta’s alcohol ad policy is that advertisers must comply with the marketing codes within their industries. Two US-based associations with advertising guidelines to help American alcohol brands promote their products are the Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS) and Beer Institute. These codes basically cover everything from the content of ads to their placement in the media and the composition of the target audience.

For example, according to the DISCUS alcohol code, marketing material for alcoholic beverages should appeal to individuals aged 21 years and older. Also, advertisers should only place promotions in media where at least 73.8% of the audience are of the legal drinking age. 

The Beer Institute re-echoes this guideline. It also recommends that alcohol brands should use age-gating features to restrict access to their digital channels to users who can legally consume alcohol. 

These audience composition guidelines also apply to influencer alcohol marketing campaigns. In other words, influencers must ensure that alcohol promotions are placed in media with 73.8% of the audience aged 21 or older. They must also use age-gating measures to prevent underage demographics from accessing these promotions. 

Meta’s Advertising Policies – Age Gating, Content Restrictions, and Penalties

Meta requires alcohol brands to use age-targeting features to restrict their content to individuals who can legally purchase alcohol in their target locations.

Your ad imagery and copy must also feature responsible drinking messaging. That means it must not promote excessive consumption of alcohol through visuals like competition drinking. Furthermore, it must not encourage drinking before or while driving, or the consumption of alcohol before any activity that requires attentiveness. Attaching health benefits to alcohol is also against Meta’s advertising policies.

Ads that violate any of these guidelines are not allowed to run on Facebook or Instagram. If you breach the policies repeatedly, Facebook may suspend your page, business account, or ad account. 

Setting Up Your Facebook Alcohol Ad Campaign

Facebook’s strict policy for alcoholic beverage advertising makes each phase of the campaign creation process important. You want to stay compliant every step of the way to avoid having your ads rejected. That said, here’s our guide on creating an ad campaign for your alcohol brand or products: 

1. Account Requirements & Pre-Approval

You can create alcohol ad campaigns from your ad account in Meta Ads Manager. If you already have a Facebook account, you have an ad account by default. However, to run alcohol ads, you need a page for your brand or products. Meta Ads Manager will also prompt you to set up a payment method. With both steps completed, you can run ad campaigns. 

2. Age and Location Targeting

The Audience Controls section in the Campaigns menu allows you to define your target locations and age limits. You can select specific countries as your audience or narrow your reach to states or cities. Facebook’s ad targeting features are also flexible enough to target locations based on postal codes or specific addresses. You can even exclude areas where you don’t want your ads to run.

Under the Minimum Age section, the default age is set to 18 years. However, you can adjust it to comply with Facebook’s age restrictions for your target locations. 

3. Budgeting & Bidding Strategies

Facebook offers two budgeting options for ad campaigns: Ad Set Budget Optimization (ABO) and Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO). Opting for ABO means you’ll define a budget for each ad set and manually tweak the spending depending on performance and advertising goals.

In contrast, Campaign Budget Optimization involves choosing a budget and allowing Facebook’s algorithm to distribute your spending across ad sets based on performance.

While there are diverse factors that can determine the most ideal option, your campaign goals are essentially the best decider. If your campaign has a single objective, then CBO is the recommended pick. However, for campaigns featuring ad sets with different goals, ABO allows you to manually set your spending based on what’s important. 

Also, during your alcohol ad campaign creation, you can set bid caps and pacing. A bid cap is the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for an action (click, purchase, etc.). Pacing, on the other hand, is how quickly your budget is spent throughout your campaign. 

Do’s and Don’ts of Facebook Alcohol Ads

When you create a Facebook alcohol campaign, it’ll go through a review process before going live. Meta’s ad approval process involves evaluating your ad’s content, including the visuals and copy, for compliance. To avoid alcohol ad penalties such as suspended ad accounts, this section explains what your ads can and cannot feature on Facebook.

Do’s – Responsible Messaging, Lifestyle Focus, Include “Enjoy Responsibly”

Facebook expects all alcohol ads to include responsible messaging. This means you should show the consumption of alcohol in a socially acceptable manner. One way alcohol brands can do this is by portraying alcohol as part of social experiences, such as friendly hangouts and celebrations. You should also include an “Enjoy Responsibly" tag on all ads to encourage moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages. 

Don'ts – No Underage Imagery, No Irresponsible Drinking, No Misleading Health Claims 

Your alcohol ads on Facebook should not feature visuals of individuals below 18—or below the legal drinking age in your target country. They should also not promote excessive alcohol consumption, display images of drunk driving, or show intoxication as socially acceptable. Furthermore, alcohol ads cannot claim that consuming alcoholic beverages can be a remedy for health conditions. 

Alternatives to Facebook for Alcohol Advertising – Blockchain-Ads Platform

Facebook’s strict alcohol rules and frequent reviews mean even compliant campaigns can face disapprovals, limited delivery, or account restrictions. These issues make it risky to rely on Facebook alone if you need stable reach to legal‑age drinkers.

You can avoid these issues by choosing Blockchain-Ads, an ad network that delivers effective and compliant campaigns for highly regulated markets. Brands like Moët Hennessy use Blockchain-Ads to run effective campaigns that earn high conversion rates and ROAS within 180 days. 

Why Blockchain-Ads?

Blockchain-Ads is built for regulated industries like alcohol, CBD, gambling, and financial services, so its core features map directly to the challenges alcohol brands face. The platform helps you reach legal‑age, high‑intent drinkers using interest, behavioral, attention, and on‑chain intent signals. 

With Blockchain-Ads, your alcohol campaigns can be:

• Served across smart display, native, video, in‑app/mobile, and CTV/OTT inventory.
• Placed on 10,000+ sites and apps, with more than 1 billion daily impressions. 

This gives alcohol brands a reach that feels similar to Google’s Display and YouTube ecosystem, but with controls and creative policies tailored to regulated products.

Conclusion & Next Steps

On Facebook, an alcohol ad approval isn’t always guaranteed. Your campaign needs to comply with Meta’s policies, local regulations, and industry codes before it can run. 

That means only targeting individuals legally old enough to purchase alcohol in approved locations, using responsible ad messaging, and encouraging moderate alcohol consumption. Anything else could see your ads rejected. 

Of course, Facebook's guidelines are quite strict. As such, you might want to consider options that won't hinder your campaigns with ad rejections and account suspensions. Blockchain-Ads offers a trustworthy alternative to run effective campaigns that reach high-value customers with precision targeting while still staying compliant with the rules. 

FAQs 

Is it illegal to advertise alcohol on Facebook? 

No. You can run alcohol ads on Facebook. However, your campaigns must comply with Meta's age and country targeting rules, local regulations, and industry advertising codes. 

Can you advertise alcohol on Facebook Marketplace? 

Facebook's commerce policies prohibit businesses from advertising alcoholic beverages directly on its Marketplace platform. Advertising is allowed on other channels, such as Facebook feeds, but it is highly regulated. 

Are you allowed to sell alcohol on Facebook? 

No, you cannot sell alcohol on Facebook because of Meta's commerce policies. That said, you can run alcohol ads that link to your e-commerce website for alcohol purchase. However, these pages must include age-gating features to comply with Meta's ad policies. 

Are you allowed to advertise alcohol on social media? 

Yes. You can run alcohol ads on Facebook, Instagram, and X, as long as you comply with platform-specific policies on age and country targeting. You must also adhere to local regulations and industry marketing codes. 

What are the rules for advertising alcohol? 

To advertise alcohol online, advertisers must ensure that ads do not target minors, imply that alcohol has health benefits, or encourage irresponsible consumption.

What are best practices for a successful Facebook alcohol ad campaign?

Some alcohol ad best practices for a successful campaign include targeting the right audience and restricting underage access to your content using age-gating features. It’s also important to create compliant visuals with responsible messaging.