Thanks to age verification tech, TikTok is going for a booze cruise

On social media platforms, age verification technology can limit underage access and safeguard vulnerable users. Now, the advertising industry has found a more capitalistic use of the cutting-edge tech: It can ensure that TikTok ads for alcoholic beverages reach their target audiences.

All major social media platforms have strict rules related to alcohol ads, and those restrictions create roadblocks for brands that want to run efficient digital campaigns. Age verification tech, however, is a game changer. As platforms equip advertisers with the precise demographic targeting they covet, purveyors of alcoholic refreshments are taking advantage.

It’s not like those brands have much of a choice. Gen Z is infamous for its widespread distaste for drinking. The cohort that includes today’s twentysomethings accounted for just 4% of U.S. alcohol sales in 2025, and nearly half of adult Zoomers are teetotalers.

If alcohol brands are going to change Gen Z’s mind about drinking, TikTok is the place to do it. More than half of alcohol ad spend comes on digital platforms, and that’s also where America’s young adults turn for product recommendations.

Gen Z TikTok users might be averse to alcohol, but they love lifestyle creators, and some liquor brands have considered that affinity as they hone their strategies. A notable recent campaign comes from Malibu, the liqueur brand owned by Pernod Ricard. To promote a new, pink-tinted beverage, Malibu teamed up with comedy creator Sabrina Brier, who channeled the “get ready with me” format for her boozy sponsored video.

@sabrina.cinoman.brier A tropical bombshell has entered the chat! Say hello to Malibu Pink. 💕🌴🥥 #GetReadyWithPink #MalibuPartner @maliburum ♬ original sound – Sabrina Brier

Pernod Ricard describes “Get Ready with Pink” as its first campaign designed for TikTok. “It’s important for us to connect with Zillennials,” Pernod Ricard VP of Marketing Caroline Begley told Fast Company. “Malibu has been around for decades, but it’s always important to introduce new consumers to the brand.”

Other alcohol brands coming to TikTok include Grey Goose, Espolòn, and St-Germain. Fast Company notes that the ad push has already produced the intended cultural shift. Per TikTok data, 42% of users have discovered a new alcohol brand on the platform, and users who are above the legal drinking age are 1.6 times more likely to buy alcohol or try a new cocktail recipe compared to non-TikTok users.

That uptick doesn’t mean that the roadblocks have gone away. Alcohol sales are not permitted on TikTok Shop, so boozy brands have not been able to tap the ecommerce keg to the degree they’d prefer. The U.S. government is a potential hindrance as well; a bipartisan group of Congressional reps recently sent a memo to TikTok CEO Adam Presser, urging him to further strengthen age verification tools.

But even when you account for that friction, alcohol brands still have a palpable opportunity on TikTok. Gen Z may not love drinking, but the generation is down to have a good time, and that may be the opening brands like Malibu need.