The beer industry's trade group has watered down its voluntary guidelines on using sex to sell beer, the Boston Herald reported Feb. 4.

The Beer Institute's voluntary advertising guidelines previously advised members against portraying "sexual passion, promiscuity or any other amorous activity as a result of consuming beer." The guidelines have now been amended to barring "sexually explicit" behavior, including graphic nudity.

The group also added a caveat to its previous ban on lewd and indecent language and images, now allowing advertisers some wiggle room based on "the context presented and the medium in which the material appears."

A ban on ads depicting excessive, irresponsible, and illegal drinking has been replaced by a passage allowing ads to show people consuming alcohol, but not rapidly, excessively, involuntarily, or as part of a game or dare.

The code also recommends that brewers only advertise in media whose audience is at least 70 percent adults.