Guide · UK food and drink

Alcohol advertising rules in the UK: what the CAP Code means for drinks brands on social media

Recent bans did not come from 18+ settings being switched off. They came from who the audience really was, who appeared in the content, and what a reposted Story implied. Here is what the rules say and what to check before your next post.

By Pasi Sipilä, founder of Ziild · 16 October 2026

In short

UK alcohol ads, including your own social posts and reposted user content, must not be aimed at under-18s, must not feature people who are or look under 25 in a significant role, and must not encourage irresponsible drinking.

Setting platform targeting to 18+ is not a defence, and alcohol-free ads must state the exact ABV prominently, not only on the packshot.

What the rules cover

Section 18 of the CAP Code sets the rules for non-broadcast alcohol advertising in the UK. That includes your social media.

The principle is short. Alcohol ads must not be aimed at under-18s, and must not suggest, condone or encourage immoderate, irresponsible or anti-social drinking. The ASA applies the spirit of the rules as well as the wording.

The rules cover ads for alcohol and ads that feature or refer to it, including soft drinks promoted as mixers. 'Alcoholic' means over 0.5% ABV. 'Low-alcohol' means over 0.5% up to and including 1.2%, and Section 18 applies to it in full.

Brand-owned social media is covered. So is user-generated content your brand likes, shares or reposts. This is a summary, not legal advice.

Rule 18.12: do not link alcohol with activities or places where drinking would be unsafe or unwise, such as driving or machinery. Sport can be shown, but not as if done after drinking.
Rule 18.16: people who are, or look, under 25 must not play a significant role.
Low-alcohol drinks: the only nutrition claims allowed are 'low-alcohol', 'reduced alcohol', 'reduced energy' and claims with the same meaning.

Under 25 on screen, under 18 in the audience

Two different ages matter. Who appears in the ad, and who sees it.

Under rule 18.16, under-25s can appear in some contexts, such as family celebrations, but must clearly not be drinking. Proof of age may not save you. If a model is over 25 but looks younger, especially acting in a juvenile way, the ad can still breach the rule. The ASA cites Sisters & Seekers Ltd (16 August 2023) and Cell Drinks (3 August 2011), which featured a 23-year-old free-runner.

Separately, rulings cite rule 18.14 (particular appeal to under-18s) and rule 18.15 (directed at under-18s). On 19 March 2025 a Bargain Booze ad featuring Santa breached rule 18.14, even though it was targeted at 18+.

Excess is the other common failure. A FourLoko 'SEND IT' Instagram post breached rule 18.1 in May 2025. Two BrewDog Facebook posts promoting 'bottomless beer' were banned for condoning excessive drinking. This is a summary, not legal advice.

Three recent rulings: Au Vodka, MOJO and White Claw

Au Vodka Ltd, 24 September 2025. Three ads were banned: one TikTok video and two paid-for Facebook posts.

On TikTok, Love Island's Lucinda Strafford received a gold vending machine full of Juicy Peach cans. She was 25, so she could appear. But Au Vodka accepted that 16–34-year-olds take a particular interest in Love Island, so the ASA found the content was likely to reach under-18s and was directed at them under rule 18.15.

The Facebook posts showed US streamer Kai Cenat, then 23, and a 24-year-old woman, both drinking the product. That breached the under-25 rule. Au Vodka argued Cenat was legal for US audiences. It did not help.

MOJO Manchester (Voodoo Doll Ltd), September 2025. A paid-for Meta ad showed Barney the Dinosaur, the caption 'T-wrecked' and a 'one tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor' joke. The ASA upheld both appeal to under-18s and encouraging excessive drinking. The bar said Meta had restricted the audience to over-18s and supplied data. The ASA said under-18s had not been fully excluded.

White Claw UK (Mark Anthony Brands (UK) Ltd), March 2026. Three reposted Instagram Stories in a 'WAVEMAKERS' highlight used #studentwavemakers. The ASA found the people had a youthful appearance. In one post no faces were visible, but the student hashtag implied students, so unlikely to be over 25. That breached rule 18.16.

White Claw removed the highlight, dropped the hashtag, started a social media audit and planned refresher training.

Au Vodka: an influencer over 25 is not enough. Their audience counts.
MOJO: 18+ targeting does not protect creative that appeals to children.
White Claw: reposted content is your ad, and a word like 'student' signals under-25s without a single face.

The ABV mistake that gets alcohol-free ads flagged

'Alcohol alternatives' are drinks at or under 0.5% ABV meant to replace alcohol, such as alcohol-free beer. Their rules took effect on 14 May 2024, after a six-month grace period.

Rule 18.19 says every ad for an alcohol alternative must state the product's exact ABV. Products range from 0.0% to 0.5%, and some consumers avoid even trace amounts for religious or health reasons.

The mistake is not stating it clearly enough. In Heineken UK Ltd (18 December 2024), the ASA said the ABV was not prominent enough because the bottle was small within the ad. ABV on a packshot is acceptable, but relying on the packshot alone is unlikely to be enough.

If an alcohol-free ad ends up promoting an alcoholic drink, through cross-promotion or shared branding, all the alcohol rules apply. Any alcohol shown alongside must follow Section 18.

Alcohol-free products can be shown driving or hiking, as long as it is clear the drink is alcohol-free. They must not disparage sobriety. On TV, they cannot appear in or next to programmes aimed at or particularly appealing to under-18s (BCAP 32.2.1). This is a summary, not legal advice.

The ASA is scanning ads with AI

The White Claw Stories were found by the ASA's AI-based Active Ad Monitoring system, as part of wider work on social ads featuring people under 25.

One ASA AI exercise checked nearly 6,000 paid-for UK online ads against Section 18 within minutes. Flagged ads went to human experts for review.

An ASA study of 13,000 paid and organic ads from July to November 2025 found 13.3% of alcohol ads might breach the rules by featuring people who appear under 25.

Older ASA guidance, from a report around 2020, said brands targeting 18–23-year-olds need to take much more care and should add interest filters that exclude under-18s.

What to do on Monday

None of this needs a new agency. It needs a checklist that someone actually uses before posting.

Check everyone shown drinking is over 25 and looks it. If in doubt, leave them out.
Check each influencer's audience, not just their age.
Read the creative as a 16-year-old would. Cartoons, Santa, memes and 'send it' language are red flags.
Audit reposted Stories, highlights and hashtags. Delete anything implying students.
Put the exact ABV large and clear in every alcohol-free ad, not only on the bottle.
Keep alcohol-free and alcoholic branding apart, or apply Section 18 to both.
Write the rules down as house rules and train whoever runs your accounts.

Making the rules stick

Most breaches above came from day-to-day social posts, not big campaigns. The fix is checking every post, every time.

Ziild CMO runs alcohol rules as house rules in code: product-first copy, no share or tag prompts, and a human yes before any post goes live.

Questions people ask

Does targeting my ads to 18+ make them compliant?

No. In the MOJO ruling the ASA found under-18s had not been fully excluded despite 18+ targeting, and Bargain Booze breached rule 18.14 while targeting 18+. Creative that appeals to children breaches regardless. This is a summary, not legal advice.

Can I use an influencer aged over 25?

Yes, but their audience matters. Au Vodka's ad with a 25-year-old Love Island star was found to be directed at under-18s because of the show's younger audience.

Do reposted customer photos count as my advertising?

Yes. Brand-owned social media is covered, including user-generated content you like, share or repost. White Claw's reposted Instagram Stories were ruled against.

What must an alcohol-free ad show?

Rule 18.19 requires the exact ABV. The ASA says showing it only on a small packshot is unlikely to be prominent enough. This is a summary, not legal advice.

Sources

Written by the Ziild machine from the sources above and approved by Pasi before publishing. Spotted an error? pasi@ziild.co.uk