Could Facebook cost your bar your license?

Posted by barblog on Jun 21, 2010 in Bar Marketing | 0 comments

Believe it or not, this is exactly what happened to a bar in Massachusetts, at least for a three day period anyway. It seems that neighbors of the bar noticed promotions on Facebook that were in contravention of the local liquor laws, however the bar owner tried in vain to defend himself by claiming that a former “rogue bartender” posted illegal “drink till you drop” and “free shots for ladies” promotions on the bar’s Facebook page without authorization!

“It’s not believable to me that one person in that establishment was doing all of these postings without other managers knowing about it,” said Selectman Bob Jackson, adding that the Facebook posts “were very detailed and happened repeatedly. “I don’t find it credible that only one person was doing that,” he added.

You can read more about the story here, but it’s clear that Facebook is no refuge for illegal promotions and the long arm of the law has a way of finding you be it online or offline!

Moral of the story? Establish a strict Facebook Policy for your staff when representing your bar and if in doubt, forget about it, try something less risky…