Professional Ethics & Standards Flashcards

A bourbon brand ambassador is offered a gift by a distributor in exchange for recommending their products exclusively. What is the ethical response?

Answer: Decline and disclose the offer to your employer

Accepting gifts that influence product recommendations creates a conflict of interest; the ethical response is to decline and disclose the offer to maintain transparency.

When a CBP professional discovers a colleague has been misrepresenting the age of a bourbon to customers, the most appropriate first step is to:

Answer: Confront the colleague privately and document the incident

Addressing the issue directly with the colleague first allows for correction while documenting the incident creates a record if the behavior continues.

Under TTB regulations, which labeling claim on a bourbon bottle would violate ethical advertising standards?

Answer: 'The healthiest spirit choice for daily consumption'

Health benefit claims for alcoholic beverages are prohibited under TTB regulations and constitute deceptive advertising.

A certified bourbon professional serving as a judge in a competition has a financial interest in one of the entered distilleries. The ethical obligation is to:

Answer: Recuse yourself from judging that distillery's entries

Recusal from judging entries in which you have a financial interest is the only way to fully eliminate the conflict, regardless of stated objectivity.

Which practice would be considered a violation of professional ethics for a CBP working in retail bourbon sales?

Answer: Steering customers toward brands that offer you personal commissions without disclosure

Recommending products based on undisclosed personal financial incentives rather than the customer's needs is a breach of professional ethics.

The Distilled Spirits Council's responsible advertising code requires that bourbon marketing primarily target:

Answer: Adults 21 and older who are legal drinking age

DISCUS guidelines require that spirits advertising be placed where at least 71.6% of the audience is of legal drinking age (21+).

A CBP educator is asked to teach a master class sponsored by a single bourbon brand. Ethical best practice requires the educator to:

Answer: Disclose the sponsorship to participants at the start of the class

Disclosing sponsorships allows participants to contextualize the information presented and make informed judgments about any potential bias.