• ANA Blog, Friday, January 20, 2006 12:31 PM

The Association of National Advertisers says a planned lawsuit by consumer groups against Viacom and Kellogg's for what the groups claim is deceptive and unfair advertising to children will fail because "the United States Supreme Court has emphatically stated that lowering discourse in our society to the level of the sandbox is unacceptable under the First Amendment." The ANA's Washington representative, Dan Jaffe, also argues that none of the foods targeted by the groups are dangerous to kids. "Cheeseburgers, French fries, milkshakes, let alone sugared cereals, all can be part of a healthy diet," Jaffe writes. "Therefore, no government in the U.S. has considered these types of sales restrictions. To ban or penalize the advertising of legal products particularly where there is no age limitation on sale clearly is not a narrowly tailored restriction," as would be required under existing law regarding restriction on advertising.

Read the whole story at ANA Blog »