Advertising and Social Media

When I was reading Industry Advisory Third Party Providers, I was stuck by the clause related to advertising alcoholic beverages. It stated that internet sites are subject to the same regulation as print, radio, and TV advertisements. This makes sense to me now that the majority of ads I see each day are delivered via google ads and other websites. However, it got me thinking about how regulators treat social media. In September 2015, Instagram started allowing sponsored posts from advertisers. These posts are usually easy to identify as advertisements because they are overly glossy and sophisticated for Instagram. I can easily imagine that these posts are subject to the same regulation as other internet advertising. However, I'd argue that companies do just as much if not more of their advertising through their own Instagram accounts, rather than through sponsored posts. Instagram is a great ways for wineries to tell their story via photos. The photos posted are often a little rough around the edges and also a little more personal. When I look at the Duckhorn Instagram account, I see beautiful photos of bottles, but I also see photos of the winemaker's dog. This is an insight into the brand that a consumer would not get from a glossy advertisement.

From the research I did, it seems that the regulations' focus for social media is ensuring that wine companies are advertising to people legal to drink. However, this is tricky on a platform like Instagram where users are not required to input their age to create a profile. In that case, how can wine companies ensure that they are obeying regulation when posting to Instagram and other platforms? I'm curious to see how regulation of this industry will evolve as more consumers get information and advertisements through social media.