Help Needed to Develop Weight Loss Advertising Report

[Kuester, Sarah]

Please pardon the cross-posting.

The Partnership for Healthy Weight Management, under the leadership of staff
at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), is conducting a systematic review of
weight loss advertising.  A report will be published by the end of the
summer examining the state of weight loss advertisements in magazines,
newspapers, including free standing inserts and Sunday magazines, TV, radio,
and the Internet.  The FTC staff will systematically examine ads in up to 10
magazines since January 2001.  The Partnership is requesting assistance in
collecting weight loss advertisements from TV, radio, and newspapers,
Internet
"spam" and direct mailing promotions.  (Note: The Partnership is a coalition
of 
representatives from science, academia, the health care professions,
government,
commercial enterprises and organizations whose mission is to promote sound 
guidance on strategies for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight -- see
http://www.consumer.gov/weightloss.) 

If you are interested in helping to collect any of this information for the
report you can do the following:

(1) If you receive any direct mail promotions of weight loss products or
catalogs containing such products, please send them to Walter Gross, Federal
Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., S-4302, Washington, D.C.
20580.  

(2) Please send any FULL PAGE newspaper ads during the month of April to Mr.
Gross.  Be sure that you include the name of the publication and the date
the ad was run.

(3) If you find any TV or radio advertisements, please complete the brief
form below and mail it to Mr. Gross.  Please copy the form and pass it
around to friends and colleagues that might want to help. 

-----------------------------
Weight Loss Ad Broadcast Media Report

Date Aired:


Metropolitan area:


Station:  Television: call letters:                    ; 
              Channel #:                 or cable channel name:


   Radio: call letters:                    am or fm (circle one);  
   dial setting:                    

Time of day:        :        am or pm (circle one) 
Or, if only approximate, please check one:
__ early morning (before 6:00 am)  
__ morning rush hour (6:00 to 10:00)  
__ late morning (10:00 to noon)
__ early afternoon (noon to 3:00) 
__ afternoon rush (3:00 to 7:00)
__ evening (7:00 to 10:00)
__ late evening (10:00 to midnight)

Product Advertised:


Claims:


Send to:
Walter Gross
Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
S-4302
Washington, D.C.  20580
Fax No. 202-326-2190