(a) (1) No licensee shall, directly or indirectly, give any premium, gift, or free goods in connection with the sale or distribution of any alcoholic beverage, except as provided by rules that shall be adopted by the department to implement this section or as authorized by this division. (2) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), for purposes of this section, a refund to, or exchange of products for, a dissatisfied consumer by a licensee authorized to sell to consumers shall not be deemed a premium, gift, or free goods given in connection with the sale or distribution of an alcoholic beverage. (B) A winegrower may advertise or otherwise offer consumers a guarantee of product satisfaction only in newsletters or other publications of the winegrower or at the winegrowerâs premises. A winegrower may refund to a dissatisfied consumer the entire purchase price of wine produced by that winegrower and sold to that consumer, regardless of where the wine was purchased. (3) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a winegrower, a beer manufacturer, a distilled spirits manufacturer, a craft distiller, a brandy manufacturer, a rectifier, or a wine rectifier may donate a portion of the purchase price of an alcoholic beverage to a nonprofit charitable organization in connection with the sale or distribution of an alcohol beverage, subject to all of the following limitations: (i) The donation is only in connection with the sale or distribution of alcoholic beverages in manufacturer-sealed containers. (ii) Promotion or advertisement of the donation shall not directly encourage or reference the consumption of alcoholic beverages. (iii) A donation shall not benefit a retail licensee, or benefit a nonprofit charitable organization established for the specific purpose of benefiting the employees of retail licensees and the advertisement or promotion of a donation, shall not, directly or indirectly, advertise, promote, or reference any retail licensee. This is not intended to preclude the identification of licensed retailers as permitted by Section 25500.1. (B) This paragraph shall be inoperative on January 1, 2030. (b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no rule of the department may permit a licensee to give any premium, gift, or free goods of greater than inconsequential value in connection with the sale or distribution of beer. With respect to beer, premiums, gifts, or free goods, including advertising specialties that have no significant utilitarian value other than advertising, shall be deemed to have greater than inconsequential value if they cost more than twenty-five cents ($0.25) per unit, or cost more than fifteen dollars ($15) in the aggregate for all those items given by a single supplier to a single retail premises per calendar year. (2) (A) No rule of the department may impose a dollar limit for consumer advertising specialties furnished by a beer manufacturer to the general public other than three dollars ($3) per unit original cost to the beer manufacturer who purchased it. (B) With respect to beer, a beer manufacturer may give consumer advertising specialties to the general public that do not exceed three dollars ($3) per unit original cost to the beer manufacturer who purchased it. For purposes of this paragraph, âbeer manufacturerâ includes a holder of a beer manufacturerâs license, a holder of an out-of-state beer manufacturerâs certificate, an out-of-state vendor that holds a certificate of compliance, or a holder of a beer and wine importerâs general license. A licensee authorized to give consumer advertising specialties pursuant to this paragraph shall not be precluded from doing so on the basis of holding any other type of alcoholic beverage license. (C) A beer manufacturer, as defined in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) shall not require a beer wholesaler to fund the purchase of consumer advertising specialties that beer manufacturers are permitted to give under paragraph (2). (D) Consumer advertising specialties f
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