[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 27, Volume 1] [Revised as of April 1, 2002] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 27CFR4.64] [Page 38-40] TITLE 27--ALCOHOL, TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND FIREARMS CHAPTER I--BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO AND FIREARMS, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY PART 4--LABELING AND ADVERTISING OF WINE--Table of Contents Subpart G--Advertising of Wine Sec. 4.64 Prohibited practices. (a) Restrictions. The advertisement of wine shall not contain: (1) Any statement that is false or untrue in any material particular, or that, irrespective of falsity, directly, or by ambiguity, omission, or inference, or by the addition of irrelevant, scientific or technical matter tends to create a misleading impression. (2) Any statement that is disparaging of a competitor's products. [[Page 39]] (3) Any statement, design, device, or representation which is obscene or indecent. (4) Any statement, design, device, or representation of or relating to analyses, standards, or tests, irrespective of falsity, which the appropriate ATF officer finds to be likely to mislead the consumer. (5) Any statement, design, device, or representation of or relating to any guarantee, irrespective of falsity, which the appropriate ATF officer finds to be likely to mislead the consumer. Money-back guarantees are not prohibited. (6) Any statement that the wine is produced, blended, bottled, packed, or sold under, or in accordance with, any municipal, State, or Federal Government authorization, law, or regulations; and if a municipal, State, or Federal permit number is stated, the permit number shall not be accompanied by any additional statement relating thereto. (7) Any statement of bonded winecellar and bonded winery numbers unless stated in direct conjunction with the name and address of the person operating such winery or storeroom. Statement of bonded winecellar and bonded winery numbers may be made in the following form: ``Bonded Winecellar No. ----,'' ``Bonded Winery No. ----,'' ``B. W. C. No. ----,'' ``B. W. No. ----.'' No additional reference thereto shall be made, nor shall any use be made of such statement that may convey the impression that the wine has been made or matured under Government supervision or in accordance with Government specifications or standards. (8) Any statement, design, device, or representation which relates to alcohol content or which tends to create the impression that a wine: (i) Contains distilled spirits; or (ii) Is comparable to a distilled spirit; or (iii) Has intoxicating qualities. However, if a statement of composition is required to appear as the designation of a product not defined in these regulations, such statement of composition may include a reference to the type of distilled spirits contained therein. Further, an approved wine label, which bears the statement of alcohol content may be depicted in any advertising media, or an actual wine bottle showing the approved label bearing the statement of alcoholic content may be displayed in any advertising media. (9) Any word in the brand name or class and type designation which is the name of a distilled spirits product or which simulates, imitates, or creates the impression that the wine so labeled is, or is similar to, any product customarily made with a distilled spirits base. (b) Statements inconsistent with labeling. (1) Advertisements shall not contain any statement concerning a brand or lot of wine that is inconsistent with any statement on the labeling thereof. (2) Any label depicted on a bottle in an advertisement shall be a reproduction of an approved label. (c) Statement of age. No statement of age or representation relative to age (including words or devices in any brand name or mark) shall be made, except (1) for vintage wine, in accordance with the provisions of Sec. 4.27; (2) references in accordance with Sec. 4.38(f); or (3) use of the word ``old'' as part of a brand name. (d) Statement of bottling dates. The statement of any bottling date shall not be deemed to be a representation relative to age, if such statement appears without undue emphasis in the following form: ``Bottled in ----'' (inserting the year in which the wine was bottled). (e) Statement of miscellaneous dates. No date, except as provided in paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section, with respect to statement of vintage year and bottling date, shall be stated unless, in addition thereto, and in direct conjunction therewith, in the same size and kind of printing there shall be stated an explanation of the significance of such date: Provided, That if any date refers to the date of establishment of any business, such date shall be stated without undue emphasis and in direct conjunction with the name of the person to whom it refers. (f) Flags, seals, coats of arms, crests, and other insignia. No advertisement shall contain any statement, design, device, or pictorial representation of or [[Page 40]] relating to, or capable of being construed as relating to, the armed forces of the United States, or of the American flag, or of any emblem, seal, insignia, or decoration associated with such flag or armed forces; nor shall any advertisement contain any statement, device, design, or pictorial representation of or concerning any flag, seal, coat of arms, crest, or other insignia likely to mislead the consumer to believe that the product has been endorsed, made, or used by, or produced for, or under the supervision of, or in accordance with the specifications of the government, organization, family, or individual with whom such flag, seal, coat of arms, crests, or insignia is associated. (g) Statements indicative of origin. No statement, design, device, or representation which tends to create the impression that the wine originated in a particular place or region, shall appear in any advertisement unless the label of the advertised product bears an appellation of origin, and such appellation of origin appears in the advertisement in direct conjunction with the class and type designation. (h) Use of the word ``importer'' or similar words. The word importer or similar words shall not appear in advertisements of domestic wine except as part of the bona fide name of the permittee by or for whom, or of a retailer for whom, such wine is bottled, packed or distributed: Provided, That in all cases where such words are used as part of such name, there shall be stated the words ``Product of the United States'' or similar words to negate any impression that the product is imported, and such negating statements shall appear in the same size and kind of printing as such name. (i) Curative and thereapeutic claims. Advertisements shall not contain any statement, design, representation, pictorial representation, or device representing that the use of wine has curative or therapeutic effects if such statement is untrue in any particular or tends to create a misleading impression. (j) Confusion of brands. Two or more different brands or lots of wine shall not be advertised in one advertisement (or in two or more advertisements in one issue of a periodical or newspaper, or in one piece of other written, printed, or graphic matter) if the advertisement tends to create the impression that representations made as to one brand or lot apply to the other or others, and if as to such latter the representations contravene any provision of Secs. 4.60 through 4.64 or are in any respect untrue. (k) Deceptive advertising techniques. Subliminal or similar techniques are prohibited. ``Subliminal or similar techniques,'' as used in this part, refers to any device or technique that is used to convey, or attempts to convey, a message to a person by means of images or sounds of a very brief nature that cannot be perceived at a normal level of awareness. [T.D. 6521, 25 FR 13843, Dec. 29, 1960, as amended by T.D. 6976, 33 FR 15025, Oct. 8, 1968; T.D. ATF-53, 43 FR 37678, Aug. 23, 1978; T.D. ATF- 180, 49 FR 31672, Aug. 8, 1984]