Government Speech

The government does not have the resources but has the constitutional authority to counter unhealthy food messages with its own speech. Government speech is not subject to First Amendment constraints. The government may engage in public health messaging and countermarketing campaigns. An example of the former was the national Five-A-Day For Better Health educational campaign, led by the CDC, to encourage fruit and vegetable consumption. Governments also can engage in countermarketing campaigns. For example, New York City launched a Pouring on the Pounds campaign, intended to highlight the health risks associated with drinking too many sugary beverages for both children and adults.^[1] The goals of countermarketing include attempting to counter the impact of marketing of unhealthy food and beverage products and influencing public support for policy interventions. Outside of these and similar public health campaigns, most government entities do not have the resources to engage in effective or widespread government speech campaigns.

• [1] NYC Pouring on the Pounds Ad Campaign. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/living/sugarydrink-media.shtml