Distilled drinks company Diageo is being cautious about how it enters virtual world Second Life, reports BusinessWeek.

The company has joined the community to promote its various drink brands, including Bailey's, Guiness and Smirnoff, hoping it can recapture an audience no longer moved by television.

However, new frontiers require cautious footsteps. CIO Robin Dargue says the company is working hard - not merely to protect itself, but its employees as well.

To tackle the former, Diageo is careful not to violate self- or government-imposed regulations by avoiding the avatars of people who in real life are too young to drink. For the latter, it has restricted access to Second Life from within company thresholds, forcing its marketing employees to access the program from home instead of at work.