Selling Words: Free Speech in a Commercial Culture

by R. George Wright

Overview

All of us grumble, from time to time, about the ever-increasing commercialization of American life. Whether in the form of overt corporate sponsorship—as evidenced by the "branding" of every major sporting event—or the less conspicuous role of commercial interests in the funding of the arts, America's corporations are a ubiquitous presence.
While debates rage over the televising of liquor ads and the degree to which Joe Camel encourages adolescent smoking, of far greater concern, R. George Wright argues, should be the passivity with which we accept excessive commercialization. For many, the spread of commercialization by any means other than fraud or deception today seems merely a reflection of the capitalist pursuit of well-being. Yet owning and spending, for the middle- class consumers Wright discusses, is at best only weakly related to their happiness.
In recent years, corporate America has shrewdly sought shelter from reasonable regulation by embracing the First Amendment. Focusing on such flashpoint issues as the Internet, tobacco advertising, and intentionally controversial ads, and exposing the dangerous elephantiasis of our commercial culture, Selling Words serves up a forceful warning about the perils of conflating commerce with First Amendment rights.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814793152
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	08/01/1997
Series:	Critical America , #79
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.84(d)

About the Author

R. George Wright is Professor of Law at the Cumberland School of Law at Samford Universityin Alabama and author of Does the Law Morally Bind the Poor or What Good's The Constitution When You Can't Afford A Loaf of Bread, also available from NYU Press.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Commercial Speech in Context
2 Tobacco and Patronizing Speech
3 The Commercial Colonization of the Internet
4 What Are Controversial Ads For?
5 How Do Ads Describe Us?
6 The Current Status of Commercial Culture and Some Political Responses
Conclusion: Commercialization and the Status of the Poor
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Wright (law, Samford U.) attacks the common American notion that the spread of commercialization is a natural manifestation of freedom and the pursuit of well-being. Topics include the constitutional arguments related to commercial free speech law, the influence of so-called controversial ads, the commercialization of the Internet, and the impact of advertising on various demographic groups. Wright concludes that commercial speech is overprotected, and that only in the case of the poor are commercial getting and spending correlated with well-being. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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