Topic: Does the First Amendment protect advertisements? "Commercial speech," also known as advertising, is protected by the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This type of speech enjoys somewhat less 1st Amendment protection from governmental encroac

Supreme Court developed a four-part test to determine whether commercial speech regulation violates the First Amendment: [3]

1. Whether the commercial speech concerns a lawful activity and is not misleading

2. Whether the government interest asserted to justify the regulation is "substantial"

3. Whether the regulation "directly advances" that government interest

4. Whether the regulation is no more extensive than necessary to serve that interest