The advertising compliance checklist for regulated brands

Whether you sell cannabis, alcohol, supplements, or run gaming promotions, most advertising violations fall into the same handful of buckets. Use this as a pre-flight checklist before any ad goes live — it won't replace legal review, but it catches the failures that account for the majority of pulled ads.

1. Claims

• No health, therapeutic, or curative claims (treats, cures, prevents, relieves).
• No safety claims ("safe," "healthy," "non-addictive," "guilt-free").
• No unsubstantiated superiority ("the strongest," "the best," "#1") without proof.
• No false or misleading statements about ingredients, origin, potency, or results.

2. Disclosures & warnings

• Required warning statements for your category are present, complete, and legible.
• Responsibility / age messaging where required ("21+," "Enjoy responsibly," "Keep out of reach of children").
• Your license number and any required advertiser identification are shown where the rules demand it.
• Disclosures are readable — not tiny, not on-screen for a single frame.

3. Audience & targeting

• Placement meets the adult-audience threshold for your category (commonly 71.6%+).
• Age-gating is in place on owned channels and the ad platforms.
• No appeal to minors — cartoons, mascots, toys, candy imagery, youth slang, or child-oriented placement.
• Geographic targeting respects where you're licensed to advertise and sell.

4. Imagery & content

• No depictions of over-consumption or intoxication, or use with driving/machinery.
• Talent and imagery clearly read as of legal age.
• Product depiction follows category rules (some states restrict showing consumption or certain imagery).

5. Licensing & jurisdiction

• Each asset is checked against the rules for every state it will run in.
• Platform policies are respected (many ad networks restrict regulated categories regardless of local law).
• Promotions, pricing, and giveaways comply with state-specific restrictions.

6. Records

• Keep a record of what was reviewed, against which rules, and what changed — helpful if a regulator ever asks.

Turning the checklist into a system

A checklist is only as good as your discipline in running it — and doing it by hand on every frame of every ad, across every state, doesn't scale. That's what a compliance engine automates: it runs each asset against the applicable rules, flags the exact issue, cites the regulation, and tells you what to change — before you spend a dollar on media.

This checklist is general information, not legal advice. Requirements vary by category, state, platform, and time — confirm the current rules for your specific situation or have assets reviewed before publishing.