That is not because regulators, politicians, and advocacy groups lack wisdom or goodwill. Overregulation arises inevitably from the collision between the boisterous dynamics of advertising and the modern apparatus of the state. Excessive regulation of advertising has therefore become the norm, and consumers suffer accordingly. That situation is particularly obvious when one compares the fate of consumers in nations with and without the more stringent forms of advertising regulation. The clash between advertising and repression is not easily resolved.
Vigorous advertising can easily offend political authorities.
In the modern regulatory state, those offended may include authorities whose influence over a line of business is so direct that wary business executives will decline to challenge advertising restraints at all. That disturbing trend is creating an extraconstitutional void in which essential information cannot be freely communicated. The void encompasses advertising for products as diverse as cigarettes, prescription drugs, and financial institutions. It is in this context that worldwide efforts to provide a measure of constitutional protection for commercial speech are taking place. The parallels between advertising and political speech have become surprisingly close.