Court: Mandatory Ads Break Law

  • June 26, 2001
(Washington AP) - A mandatory advertising campaign for the mushroom industry violates the First Amendment guarantee of free speech, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.

The 6-to-3 ruling was a victory for mushroom producer United Foods Inc., which argued that a mandatory mushroom promotional campaign forced the company to pay for ads that benefited its competitors.

"Just as the First Amendment may prevent the government from prohibiting speech, the amendment may prevent the government from compelling individuals to express certain views," Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority.

The Justice Department took the case to the Supreme Court, arguing that the generic ads benefit all producers, and that the Agriculture Department has an interest in seeing an entire industry succeed.

The government said the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in favor of United Foods threatened similar marketing programs for milk, beef, pork, eggs and cotton. Federal and state regulators run dozens of generic ad programs worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The "Got Milk?" campaign, featuring celebrities wearing a fake milk mustache, cost about $100 million a year.

Producers pay into a common pool, which is then used to orchestrate generic ads.

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