The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the nation's consumer protection agency. A major part of its mission is to collect complaints about companies and business practices.  The FTC has an extensive online presence regarding alcohol and underage drinking. 

• Alcohol advertising complaints can be filed online by starting at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov.

• In 2012, the FTC required 14 major alcoholic beverage advertisers to provide information for the agency’s fourth major study on the effectiveness of voluntary industry guidelines for reducing advertising and marketing to underage audiences by beer, wine, and distilled spirits manufacturers. The FTC has a news release about those requirements online at www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/04/alcoholstudy.shtm.

• The third major FTC study of alcohol advertising came out in 2008. It is called "Self-Regulation in the Alcohol Industry" and is available at www.ftc.gov/os/2008/06/080626alcoholreport.pdf.

• The FTC created an underage drinking website, "We Don't Serve Teens," that focuses on alcohol advertising.  The website is available by following this link.