The US of A is home to some pretty bizarre drinking laws, but most baffling to me is the apparent one that requires you to be at least 21 years old to look at a website about alcohol. Every time I visit a booze site, I have to enter my country and DOB as if it’s relevant. I can’t look at pictures of liquor bottles and read about it without being 21+? Then why aren’t kids banned from walking down the booze aisle at the store? Why are alcohol advertisements restricted to venues that are strictly 21+ if under aged people looking at photos of alcohol is such a crime?
Looking for logic in drinking laws is pretty much a futile effort. There was a time that in my home state, children were not permitted in the liquor area of the store without a guardian. And some states still prohibit minors from serving alcohol in restaurants.
But the measures to keep minors out of alcohol websites are pretty lame. Just enter a birth year old enough, and you’re in. There is a similar procedure for those who want to watch video game trailers for games rated “M.” Porn sites do it too. Hell, someone could even lie about being 13 and get on this board.
I think such laws are designed to make the people who wring their hands about this kind of stuff feel better. It’s a bit of theater that really has no teeth to it.
I was under the impression that it was a voluntary measure to reduce liability - they don’t want even a whiff of an accusation that they’re targeting minors with their advertising. R.J. Reynolds paid out a multimillion dollar settlement after they were sued over the Joe Camel character allegedly targeting minors. Having to affirm that the viewer is of legal age before they can view the website lessens the likelihood of the same thing happening to their company.
Are these sites that actually sell alcohol, or just talk about it? If the former, then the rationale would be the same as not allowing a minor into a bar to just hang out.
Surely, because it makes zero sense from my angle.
Yeesh, it’s insanity. That was my thought because it’s plain silly for there to be a law against looking at photos of bourbon on the internet if you’re under 21. Mmm, photos of bourbon… mmmm. So lovely, brownest of the brown liquors… Wait, I’m sorry, what were we talking about again?
So anyway, I suppose it would be insufficient to have a disclaimer before entering the website stating that their products are intended for people of legal drinking age only. Instead, they make you enter your birth date and country (I usually just make one up and put what’s easiest to type, which is usually 1-1-1900 or something, and I’m old enough to drink!), and if your age is not entered as 21+ you get this:
Jack Daniels is a shitty whiskey anyway, but even good whisk(e)y websites make you do this.
Just talk about it. Bevmo.com, which does sell alcohol, does not request age verification anywhere on their web site. They do, however, have delivery restrictions, and whoever accepts the package must present photo ID.
