<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>522852-01183</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Received Date:</b></TD> <TD>5/5/2006 4:30:44 PM</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Organization:</b></TD> <TD></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>Commenter:</b></TD> <TD>Girard, Carol</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><b>State:</b></TD> <TD>MA</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 am glad the FTC plans to issue a new report reviewing alcohol industry advertising practices and compliance with voluntary advertising codes. Please issue a stronger and more detailed report than those in the past. The industry clearly doesn't responsibly regulate itself --based on many of the ads I've seen. I'm also well aware that alcohol manufacturers have repeatedly failed to adhere to their own voluntary guidelines. The federal government must do much more to monitor alcohol industry marketing. Underage drinking can cause death and serious injury to thousands of young people every year. Though the industry claims to have standards, its slick marketing campaigns, obviously designed to target youth, regularly appear in media and sports venues that attract large underage audiences. Because of the short and long term public health consequences of underage drinking and the alcohol industry's inability to use the moderation it cynically tells its customers to use, the FTC must strengthen its reporting process. It should: 1. Report on alcohol industry advertising practices every year a year, just as it does now with tobacco advertising. Previous ad hoc reports, while useful, haven't provided a yearly way make alcohol marketers account for their practices. 2. Collect much more detailed data. Include 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. Praise those that actually do comply. Make strong recommendations on ways to strengthen and enforce advertising standards. Marketing is powerful and is made available through more and more media. The FTC can play a critical role in protecting our children from harm. Your role in keeping irresponsible and dangerous alcohol marketing away from youth can save lives, families and communities. </body> </HTML>