<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>522852-00811</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Received Date:</b></TD> <TD>5/3/2006 8:17:27 AM</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Organization:</b></TD> <TD>Focus on Community</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Commenter:</b></TD> <TD>Winkler, Francie</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>State:</b></TD> <TD>WI</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, To the FTC: I am the Executive Director of Focus on Community. Our mission is to have healthier youth and families by preventing underage drinking, alcoholism and drug dependence. As a professional who has dedicated over 20 years to prevention, I support the FTC's intention to undertake a new report reviewing alcohol industry advertising practices and compliance with voluntary advertising codes. Such a report is overdue. On behalf of our staff and volunteers, 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. An annual report on alcohol advertising compliance would greatly increase accountability of alcohol marketers. 2. Collect much more detailed data. 3. Collect information on "responsibility" and "prevention" advertising by alcoholic-beverage companies. 4. Make recommendations for both strengthening and enforcing advertising standards. Thank you> We hope to see the FTC play a continued and increasingly active role in protecting our youth from irresponsible and dangerous alcohol marketing. </body> </HTML>