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FTC choice controversial
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May 31, 2001: 10:49 a.m. ET
Beales, who defended 'Joe Camel' ads, may head consumer-protection arm
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The author of a paper saying Joe Camel did not encourage teen-agers to smoke is poised to become head of the Federal Trade Commission's consumer-protection branch, according to a published report Thursday.
Quoting unnamed government and industry sources, the Washington Post said J. Howard Beales III would be named head of the FTC's consumer-protection division, responsible for "policing misleading and deceptive advertising and business practices."
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[Beales' appointment is like] putting the wolf in charge of the henhouse.
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Matthew Myers
President
Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids |
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Beales' controversial defense of the cartoon camel was submitted to the FTC on behalf of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. The FTC aims to ensure competitive markets free of undue restrictions or unfair practices.
Beales would be the first non-lawyer to head the agency's consumer division, the Post reported. He previously worked at the agency during the Reagan administration, under then consumer chief Timothy J. Muris. The Post said Muris will take over the chairmanship of the FTC next week.
Beales' appointment promises to be a controversial one, similar to "putting the wolf in charge of the henhouse," Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, told the Post.
"Someone with those kinds of ties to the tobacco industry, whose position on the impact of advertising, particularly on young people, is so far out of the mainstream, cannot be counted on to protect our kids."
The Post quoted an agency source as saying Beales would recuse himself from matters involving the tobacco industry. 
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