MY Content Forum bans advertisements on alcoholic drinks and liquor

The Communications and Multimedia Content Forum (CMCF) of Malaysia is reminding industry practitioners to refrain from posting advertisements on alcoholic drinks and liquor, under the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Content Code.

“Advertisements on alcoholic drinks and liquor are not allowed. If an alcohol company is the title sponsor of an international sporting event held in Malaysia, it is only allowed to promote the event and not directly advertise its products. In addition to this, alcohol companies should only use the events' logo in the promotional on-air material,” it said in a statement.

The reminder in Content Code added that “no advertisements on the said products could be broadcasted, disseminated and circulated in any manner or form” throughout the electronic networked medium in Malaysia. Mediums include, but are not limited to television, radio, mobile telephony and online. Additionally, any form of printed content, materials containing the advertisement of such prohibited products is prohibited.

CMFC encourages the industry to scrutinise materials to be digitised and remove such prohibited advertisements before it is uploaded beforehand. In addition, members of the public are also encouraged to come forward and report any advertisements for products and services that appear to be in breach to the CMCF’s Complaints Bureau.

Failure to comply would mean a breach of the Code as per Part 8, Paragraph 8.0 of the Content Code.

Previously, companies such as Heineken Malaysia have felt the heat of this regulation, where it had to provide clarification even for a non-alcoholic malt beverage, Heineken 0.0. The company added that the beverage was non-Halal and only targeted at non-Muslims aged 21 years old and above. The company also added that this was mentioned during its product launch press conference in June 2019 and in previous news reports.

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