Advertising And Alcohol

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aired only after 9 or 10 PM, they will still reach millions of American children.
Alcohol advertising may increase alcohol consumption, including drinking by minors. Based on this effect, various municipalities around the country have attempted to ban alcohol advertising. These attempts have met with mixed results in the courts. This section will attempt to explain how a municipality can legally ban alcohol advertising.
Commercial Speech
The only constitutional impediment to banning alcohol advertising is First Amendment freedom of speech. Alcohol producers and their advertising companies will usually bring suit against a municipality which bans alcohol advertisements, arguing that the ban is an unconstitutional abridgement of the freedom of speech. Advertising, however, is only "commercial speech," which is protected by the First Amendment 1. but not to the extent that political speech is protected. Therefore, a municipality can regulate advertising much more than it can regulate ...

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subject to extensive regulation. The City of Baltimore recently banned outdoor alcohol advertising and defeated the advertiser's free speech argument in court. A federal circuit court upheld the ban on alcohol advertising on billboards as not an unconstitutional infringement of the advertiser's right of free speech.
Warning Labels
Children and teenagers are adversely affected by advertising that glamorizes alcohol consumption. Unlike cigarette advertising, alcohol advertising does not carry any mandatory health warnings. Federal law regulates warning labels on cigarette advertising, but not on alcohol advertising. The Federal Alcohol Administration only requires warning labels on ...

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