Code Section

25600.2.  

(a) An authorized licensee may conduct or sponsor consumer sweepstakes, subject to the following conditions:

(1) (A) No entry fee may be charged to participate in a sweepstakes authorized by this subdivision. Entry or extra chances in a sweepstakes shall not be made available via the purchase of an alcoholic beverage.

(B) Entry into or participation in a sweepstakes shall be limited to persons 21 years of age or older.

(C) No sweepstakes shall involve consumption of alcoholic beverages by a participant.

(D) Subject to subparagraph (B), any sweepstakes offered in California shall be open to all residents of California.

(E) A sweepstakes may not be conducted for the benefit of any permanent retail license.

(2) (A) Closures, caps, cap liners, corks, labels, cartons, cases, packaging, or other similar material shall not be used as an entry to a sweepstakes or as a means of determining the amount or size of the prize or the winner in a sweepstakes, except as provided in subparagraphs (D) and (F).

(B) The authorized licensee shall provide an alternative means of entry that does not require a visit to a licensed premises.

(C) Except as provided in subparagraph (D), removable entry forms shall not be used on alcoholic beverage labels, containers, packaging, cases, or cartons.

(D) Removable entry forms that are neck hangers shall be used only on bottles of wine or distilled spirits, and shall not require purchase of the product. Removable neck hangers shall be used only if other entry forms are available at the point of sale or if an alternative means of entry is also available.

(E) Entry forms may be provided through electronic or other media, including point of sale.

(F) Codes that may be scanned or electronically entered by a consumer where the authorized licensee has permanently affixed the codes as part of the original alcoholic beverage label, container, packaging, case, or carton and where the codes are not removable and not required to be removed are permitted as a form of entry.

(G) All permitted means of entry, including the use of electronic or scanner codes, shall clearly indicate that no purchase is required to enter.

(H) All sweepstakes entries shall provide the entrant with an equal odds of winning.

(3) A sweepstakes shall not provide for the instant or immediate awarding of a prize or prizes. Instant or immediate notification to the consumer that he or she is a winner is permissible.

(4) Except for providing a means of entry, a sweepstakes authorized by this section shall not be conducted at the premises of a retail licensee or the premises of a winegrower or beer manufacturer operating under a duplicate license for a branch office.

(5) Alcoholic beverages or anything redeemable for alcoholic beverages shall not be awarded as a sweepstakes prize. This paragraph shall not prohibit a sweepstakes in which the prize is cash or cash equivalent, the awarding of cash or cash equivalent, or the inclusion of alcoholic beverages as an incidental part of a prize package.

(6) A retail licensee shall not serve as the agent of an authorized licensee by collecting or forwarding entries or awarding prizes to, or redeeming prizes for, a sweepstakes winner. The matching of entries with numbers or pictures on the point-of-sale materials at retail licensed premises is permitted only if entrants are also offered the opportunity to use an alternative means to determine prize-winning status. An authorized licensee may furnish and maintain a deposit box on a retail licensed premises for the collection and forwarding of sweepstakes entry forms.

(7) A licensee that is not an authorized licensee shall not directly or indirectly underwrite, share in, or contribute to, the costs of a sweepstakes authorized by this section or serve as the agent of an authorized licensee to collect or forward entries or to furnish any prize to a sweepstakes winner.

(8) (A) Advertising of a sweepstakes shall comply with the signage and advertising restrictions contained in this chapter, Chapter 15 (commencing with Section 25500), and any regulations issued by the department.

(B) Advertising or promotion of a sweepstakes shall not identify or refer to a retail licensee.

(C) A retail licensee shall only advertise or promote a sweepstakes authorized by this section in the manner specified in subparagraph (A).

(D) Advertising or promotion of a sweepstakes shall only be conducted on the premises of a retail licensee when such advertisement or promotion involves a minimum of three unaffiliated retail licensees. For purposes of this subparagraph, “unaffiliated retail licensees” shall not include a retail licensee owned or controlled in whole or in part by an authorized licensee or any officer, director, or agent of that licensee.

(E) Placement of signs or other advertising of a sweepstakes in a licensed retail premises shall not be conditioned upon the following:

(i) The placement of a product within the licensed premises or the restriction, in any way, of the purchase of a product by a licensee, the removal of a product from the sales area of a licensed premises, or the resetting or repositioning of a product within the licensed premises.

(ii) The purchase or sale of a product produced, imported, distributed, represented, or promoted by an authorized licensee or its agent.

(F) An agreement, whether written or oral, entered into, by, and between a retail licensee and an authorized licensee that precludes the advertisement or promotion of a sweepstakes on the premises of the retail licensee by another authorized licensee or its agent is prohibited.

(9) Sweepstakes prizes shall not be awarded to an authorized licensee, retail licensee, or wholesale licensee or agent, officer, employee, or family member of an authorized licensee, retail licensee, or wholesale licensee. For the purposes of this paragraph, “family member” means a spouse, parent, sibling, child, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and lineal descendants, including those by adoption. An authorized licensee shall maintain all records pertaining to a sweepstakes for three years following the completion of a sweepstakes.

(b) For purposes of this section:

(1) (A) “Authorized licensee” means a winegrower, beer and wine importer general, beer manufacturer, out-of-state beer manufacturer certificate holder, distilled spirits manufacturer, distilled spirits manufacturer’s agent, distilled spirits importer general, distilled spirits general rectifier, rectifier, out-of-state distilled spirits shipper’s certificate holder, brandy manufacturer, and brandy importer. An authorized licensee may conduct, sponsor, or participate in a sweepstakes pursuant to this section regardless of whether the licensee holds an additional license not included in this paragraph.

(B) An “authorized licensee” shall not include a beer and wine wholesaler, a beer and wine importer general, or distilled spirits importer general that only holds a wholesaler’s or retailer’s license as an additional license.

(2) “Sweepstakes” means a procedure, activity, or event for the distribution of anything of value by lot, chance, or random selection where the odds for winning a prize are equal for each entry.

(c) Nothing in this section authorizes conducting sweepstakes where consumers are entitled to an allotment or accumulation of points based on purchases made over a period of time that can be redeemed for prizes, things of value, or additional sweepstakes entries.

(d) A prize awarded for a sweepstakes conducted pursuant to this section shall not be subject to the monetary limitation imposed by Section 25600 or a regulation of the department.

(e) An authorized licensee that violates this section, in addition to any other penalty imposed by this division, may be prohibited by the department from offering a sweepstakes to California residents for a period of 12 months.