<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>522852-01236</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Received Date:</b></TD> <TD>5/7/2006 6:07:36 PM</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Organization:</b></TD> <TD></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Commenter:</b></TD> <TD>Owen, Cheryl</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>State:</b></TD> <TD>OR</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, I support, as a taxpayor and citizen, the FTC's intention to undertake a new report reviewing alcohol industry compliance with voluntary advertising codes and advertising practices. The federal government does not do nearly enough to monitor alcohol industry marketing. Self-regulation by the industry is clearly insufficient. Repeated failures of alcohol manufacturers to adhere to voluntary guidelines have been well documanted. I would like to encourage the FTC to issue a more detailed and stronger report than those it issued the past. Blatantly violating 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. Meanwhile, underage drinking results in death and serious injury to thousands of young people every year. Because of the alcohol industry's utter failure to police itself in the face of massive public health consequences of underage drinking, and I urge the FTC to strengthen its reporting process in the following ways: 1. An annual report on alcohol advertising compliance would greatly increase accountability of alcohol marketers, insteaad of instead of the previous ad hoc reports. The FTC now reports on tobacco advertising once a year. A similar system looking at the alcohol industry would send a message to them that they are not exempt from the same scrutiny. 2. More detailed data is needed, 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. Collection of information on "responsibility" and "prevention" advertising by alcoholic-beverage companies is needed. Advertising touting charitable activities of alcoholic-beverage producers or promoting the "health benefits" of alcoholic beverages should be monitored also. 4. I am requesting that the FTC 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. </body> </HTML>