<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>522852-00126</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Received Date:</b></TD> <TD>5/2/2006 12:49:47 PM</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Organization:</b></TD> <TD></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Commenter:</b></TD> <TD>Hill, Nate</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>State:</b></TD> <TD>MI</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 am sure you have received this letter many times already so I will spare you reading the entire thing again. Look for the "stop line" The next thoughts are not from the Join Together e-mail. My employment with Berrien County Health Department has allowed me to work closely with people who are focused on keeping alcohol out of the hands of minors (Michigan Council to Reduce Underage Drinking MCRUD). I have also had the opportunity to begin a campaign in Berrien County to reduce high risk drinking in the county. I have also met with alcohol vendors and distributors and most if not all of them are dedicated to keeping alcohol away from minors, whether it be because of the fines or an ethical and moral choice they are all in agreement that young children should not be using alcohol. However, occasionally that almighty dollar takes over a person's good judgment and the message is lost. Alcohol advertisement sells sex, enjoyment, recreation, etc... all things young teens may find appealing but also all things people of age find appealing. So where do we draw the line? Unfortunately, I do not have the answer to that question. I feel that educating youth to see the real message and understand the consequences of their actions is the best policy. Today most alcohol advertisements in the media are followed by the tag line "please drink responsibly" I think that is an excellent message to send to anyone who uses alcohol. Maybe it?s my age but I do not feel that the alcohol industry is trying to get youth to drink but rather they are trying to sell to the people who are 21 or older. I can see both sides of this issue, on one hand alcohol advertisements appeal to the younger generation, on the other hand it is the 21 and up that the alcohol industry is trying to sell to. I am curious to see the findings of the FTC. My professional opinion, I feel that guidelines are important to any advertising, however, I would hate to see a good idea go by the wayside due to people being over zealous and losing their own mission and goals in the process. I feel that I may have slightly talked in circles. Long story short, keeping alcohol out of the hands of children should start at home, with education and insight. The quick blame on the industry only breeds contempt, if the FTC finds out that the industry is specifically targeting minors then action MUST be taken, but remember the age gap from 26 to 18 is not as cut and dry as everyone would like it to be. Thank you. Nate Hill ___ STOP LINE ___ 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%. 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. </body> </HTML>