<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>522852-00236</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Received Date:</b></TD> <TD>5/2/2006 2:36:12 PM</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Organization:</b></TD> <TD></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Commenter:</b></TD> <TD>Gleim, Sandra</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>State:</b></TD> <TD>IN</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 you are well aware, underage drinking is a serious issue throughout our country, resulting in death and serious injury to thousands of students every year. The slick marketing techniques of the alcohol industry only serve to exacerbate this problem and lead students to experiment with alcohol - particularly wine coolers and other new products that "taste good." I support the FTC's intention to undertake a new, stronger detailed report reviewing alcohol industry advertising practices and compliance with voluntary advertising codes. 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. </body> </HTML>