ABSTRACT
The commission is a prime regulator of commercial speech although myriad other federal and state agencies are also involved. American companies take every opportunity to aggressively explain how proud they are of products and practices in an era in which public scrutiny is expected. This analysis begins with Supreme Court decisions on commercial speech and moves to state and federal restrictions on advertising and forms of corporate and commercial speech. In fact, the history of involvement of the courts in commercial speech issues is much like a patchwork quilt—confusing and contradictory components often make it difficult to discern trends and underlying principles. The chapter focuses on three major categories of commercial speech—media corporations, non-media corporations, and professionals. Of the three, media corporations have generally made the strongest headway in obtaining protection for commercial speech, but they do not have a perfect win–loss record. Non-media corporations have received the most attention from the courts, especially the US Supreme Court.
