From: Tim Kasser [tkasser@knox.edu]
Sent: Monday, September 09, 2002 3:52 PM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: commercial speech

Hello,

I am writing to comment on the FDA's investigations into corporations
and commercial speech.  My understanding is that you are exploring the
extent to which "free speech"  protections extend to corporations'
messages advertising their products.  I would like to encourage you to
restrict such messages as much as possible.

I am a psychologist and the author of The High Price of Materialism (MIT
Press, 2002).  For the past decade, my colleagues and I have been
studying what happens when people take on the materialistic messages
propounded in commercial society, and in commercials in particular.  Our
research documents that people who strongly believe in the messages
propagated by commercials (i.e., it is important to be wealthy, to own a
lot of possessions, etc.) also report lower personal well-being (e.g.,
happiness, life satisfaction), worse physical health (e.g., symptoms of
aches and pains, drug use), and less commitment to social well-being
(less prosocial and more antisocial behavior).  We know from other
research that one of the main ways that people take on materialistic
values is through their exposure to commercial messages.  Thus,
commercials work to promote the kinds of lifestyle choices and values
that end up undermining quality of life.  This research has been
published in some of the most presitigious scientific journals in
psychology, and I would be happy to provide you with references, if you
desire.

It is also the case that most commercial messages are inherently
manipulative, as they capitalize on non-conscious processes.  This is
particularly the case for ads directed towards children, who do not have
the cognitive capacities to understand the purpose of advertising, nor
often the understanding of how ads differ from the television programs
interspersed between them.

As corporations and advertising intrude into more and more aspects of
our life, I believe that it is important for government agencies such as
the FDA to recognize that corporations are not the same as individuals,
or as the press.  As such, it does not make sense to me to apply
protections meant for groups who have less power to the entity with the
most power in our current environment: corporations.

I would be happy to discuss these issues further, if you would like.
Thanks for the opportunity to comment, and, as you make your decisions,
please keep in mind that the FDA's purpose is to work for the good of
citizens, not for the good of corporations.

Thanks.

Tim Kasser, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Knox College
Galesburg, IL 61401
(309) 341-7283

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