Can cartoon characters be used to advertise alcoholic beverages in Vietnam?

Can cartoon characters be used to advertise alcoholic beverages in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 12 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Alcohol Beverages 2019 regulates management of advertising of alcoholic beverages having less than 5.5% ABV as follows:

2. An advertisement must not:

a) contain information and images aimed at encouraging alcoholic beverage consumption; say that alcoholic beverages may enable the maturity, success, friendliness and sex appeal; be directed towards children, students, adolescents and pregnant women;

b) use objects, images, symbols, music, movie characters and brands of products intended for children and students; employ minors or their images.

In Article 13 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Alcohol Beverages 2019, there are provisions as follows:

Any organization or individual advertising spirits having from 5.5% to less than 15% ABV and beers having at least 5.5% ABV shall comply with regulations laid down in Article 12 of this Law and shall not:

1. include advertisements in art performance and/or sports programs;

2. place advertisements on outdoor advertising facilities, except for signboards of alcoholic beverage traders.

Thus, advertisements using characters from cartoons for children and students are not allowed to advertise alcoholic beverages in Vietnam.

Can cartoon characters be used to advertise alcoholic beverages in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What are penalties for using cartoon characters to advertise alcoholic beverages in Vietnam?

According to Article 33 of Decree 117/2020/ND-CP regulating violations against regulations on advertising of alcoholic beverages as follows:

1. A fine ranging from VND 15.000.000 to VND 20.000.000 shall be imposed for employing persons aged under 18 to directly engage in advertising of alcoholic beverages.

2. A fine ranging from VND 20.000.000 to VND 30.000.000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts of advertising spirits having less than 15% ABV and beer products:

a) An advertisement contains information/images aimed at encouraging alcoholic beverage consumption, saying that alcoholic beverages may enable the maturity, success, friendliness and sex appeal, or being directed towards children, students, adolescents and pregnant women;

b) An advertisement uses objects, images, symbols, music, movie characters and brands of products intended for children, pupils and students, or uses images of persons aged under 18;

c) Alcoholic beverages are advertised in advertising events or through advertising facilities/products that are intended for persons aged under 18, pupils, students, adolescents and pregnant women;

d) Alcoholic beverages are advertised on vehicles;

dd) Alcoholic beverages are advertised on audio or visual newspapers before, during or after a children's program, or from 18:00 PM to 21:00 PM daily, unless permitted by law;

e) Alcoholic beverages are advertised through outdoor advertising facilities that violate regulations on sizes and placement distance from educational institutions, nursing care centers and recreational centers intended for persons aged under 18;

g) An advertisement does not contain warnings against harmful effects of alcoholic beverages as prescribed by law;

h) Failing to run a filtering system or access control software to prevent persons aged under 18 from accessing and searching for information about alcoholic beverages when running advertisements on online newspapers, websites, electronic equipment, terminal devices and other telecommunications equipment.

3. A fine ranging from VND 30.000.000 to VND 40.000.000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts of advertising spirits having from 5.5 to less than 15% ABV and beer products having at least 5.5% ABV:

a) Advertisements are displayed in art performance or sports programs;

b) Advertisements are placed on outdoor advertising facilities, except for signboards of alcoholic beverage traders.

4. Additional penalty:

The advertising of alcoholic beverages shall be suspended for a fixed period of 01- 03 months in case of commission of the violation in Point h Clause 2 of this Article.

5. Remedial measure:

Advertisements shall be taken back and have their violating elements removed in case of commission of one of the violations in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article.

According to this Article, the act of using images of characters in movies for children, students, or students to advertise alcohol with an alcohol content of less than 15 degrees will be subject to a fine of from 20,000,000 VND to 30,000,000 VND. In addition, if you violate Clause 3 of the Decree above, you will be fined from 30,000,000 VND to 40,000,000 VND and forced recall and removal of ads to eliminate infringing elements in Vietnam.

Best regards!