<HTML> <HEAD> <title>WebForm1</title> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 7.1"> <meta name="CODE_LANGUAGE" content="Visual Basic .NET 7.1"> <meta name="vs_defaultClientScript" content="JavaScript"> <meta name="vs_targetSchema" content="http://schemas.microsoft.com/intellisense/ie5"> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content='text/html; charset=UTF-8'> </HEAD> <body > <TABLE id="Table1" cellSpacing="1" cellPadding="1" width="100%" border="0"> <TR> <TD><b>Comment Number:</b></TD> <TD>522852-00229</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Received Date:</b></TD> <TD>5/2/2006 2:22:36 PM</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Organization:</b></TD> <TD></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Commenter:</b></TD> <TD>Simmons, Marilyn</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>State:</b></TD> <TD>ND</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Agency:</b></TD> <TD>Federal Trade Commission</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Rule:</b></TD> <TD>Proposed Information Requests to Manufacturers of Alcoholic Beverages</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Docket ID:</b></TD> <TD>PO64505</TD> </TR> <TR> <td colspan='2'>No Attachments</td> </TR> </TABLE> <hr/> <b>Comments:</b><br/><br/> Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras Federal Trade Commission - Office of the Secretary Room H-135 (Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20580 Dear Chairman Majoras, As a citizen and taxpayer, I support the FTC's intention to undertake a new report reviewing alcohol industry advertising practices and compliance with voluntary advertising codes. I urge the FTC to issue a stronger and more detailed report than those released in 1999 and 2003. The federal government does not do nearly enough to monitor alcohol industry marketing. Self-regulation by the industry is clearly insufficient, given the well-documented, repeated failures of alcohol manufacturers to adhere to voluntary guidelines. Underage drinking results in death and serious injury to thousands of young people every year. In flagrant violation of its own standards, the alcohol industry routinely conducts slick marketing campaigns, designed for obvious youth appeal, in media outlets and sports venues with a large underage audience. Because of the massive public health consequences of underage drinking and the alcohol industry's utter failure to police itself, I urge the FTC to strengthen its reporting process in the following ways: 1. Report on alcohol industry advertising practices once a year, as the FTC now does with tobacco advertising. Although the previous ad hoc reports have been useful, an annual report on alcohol advertising compliance would greatly increase accountability of alcohol marketers. 2. Collect much more detailed data, including product brands popular with youth, target-audience ethnicity, sports-related marketing, and magazine and television advertising where youth audience rates exceed 15 percent. 3. Collect information on "responsibility" and "prevention" advertising by alcoholic-beverage companies, as well as advertising touting charitable activities of alcoholic-beverage producers or promoting the "health benefits" of alcoholic beverages. 4. Compare voluntary advertising compliance among various segments of the alcoholic-beverage industry, and make recommendations for both strengthening and enforcing advertising standards. Thank you for considering my views. I hope to see the FTC play a continued and increasingly active role in protecting our youth from irresponsible and dangerous alcohol marketing. As a parent of 5, I have kept alcohol out of our home completely, together with my husband, but it offends me to see it come into our house via the TV. We are still seeing the occasional ads on TV for Bud Lite or whatever. I do not appreciate it. Anything we can do to help get those ads off the TV would be great. At the college, where I serve, no ads are put into the newspaper or on bulletin boards. I appreciate that, but I also know that it isn't the case in all the colleges in North Dakota. There are too many ads for 1/2 priced alcohol, or the ladies nights ads, whereby guys can easily bring their pick for the night, to get properly drunk, and take advantage of her that evening without the young lady making a squawk. That is horrible. And, it is also something we need to change! No one should be overserved in a bar; we should not have people driving home while drunk; we should not have girls made into an "easy lay" because of drunkenness. And, furthermore, we don't need it advertised. Everybody who wants to get alcohol, knows where to get it, unfortunately. What we need is more statistics announced very where, of how many alcoholics come out of the early exposure to drink, as young people. Also, how many of those ultimately kill themselves or someone else through drunken driving accidents. The list goes on. Anything that can be done to limit alcohol marketing would be a great first step to curtail a bad product! </body> </HTML>