“It’s the First Amendment”
The American Advertising Federation in part with the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) have filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court challenging a recent law that allows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to restrict tobacco and advertising.

The position of these advertising industry organizations is that the law violates First Amendment free speech. The brief explains how the First Amendment also protects commercial speech.

The brief cites a Court decision in Lorillard v. Reilly (2001), which states that “so long as the sale and use of tobacco is lawful for adults, [there is] a protected interest in communication about it and adult consumers have an interest in receiving that information”. The Lorillard case has successfully struck down a number of advertising restrictions across the county.

Pharmaceutical Advertising Dysfunction
While the U.S. Senate is working on a Health Care Reform bill, a few senators have decided to work on including legislation that would eliminate the deductibility of pharmaceutical advertising.

In 2007 the advertising spend by drug companies was $5.375 billion. If this legislation were to pass, we can be sure that the ad budgets going forward would be drastically cut. The AAF is working closely with a grassroots network of local members to urge the senate to oppose such legislation.

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