Advertising laws are aimed at protecting consumers by requiring advertisers to be truthful about their products and to be able to substantiate their claims. All businesses must comply with advertising and marketing laws, and failure to do so could result in costly lawsuits and civil penalties.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the main federal agency that enforces advertising laws and regulations. Under the Federal Trade Commission Act advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive, advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims, and advertisements cannot be unfair.
Hundreds of millions of dollars are being expended on political advertising which not infrequently is patently untruthful, deceptive and unfair. Should not political advertising adhere to the same standards as the ones set for corporate America?
One could so wish, but purchase of political advertising is not held to such commercial standards, because their statements are considered "political speech" which falls under the protection of the First Amendment. The noble idea underpinning this different approach to advertising standards is the belief that voters have a right to uncensored opinion on which to base their political decisions.
A logical extension of this is that one also believes voters at the receiving end of the opinion are universally capable of separating the wheat from the chaff. I will let you be the judge of that.
Furthermore, "opinion" (from Latin opinionem - what one thinks) is defined in the dictionary as "the expression of a belief that is held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof", or otherwise, "a personal belief or judgement that is not founded on proof or certainty".
In other words, one has the right to broadcast one's opinion, but no obligation to be truthful or factual.
Caveat emptor - or, "Let the voter beware!"
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