Regulating Commercial Speech in a Dynamic Environment: Forty Years of Margarine and Oil Advertising before the NLEA

Abstract

The authors analyze the roles of science, politics, markets, and consumers in determining the regulation and use of health information in commercial speech before the passage of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act. Data include a historical review of advertising regulation, a manifest content analysis of margarine and oil magazine advertising to consumers and professionals, a summary of changes in scientific recommendations regarding diet and heart disease, and a review of magazine articles about diet and heart disease from 1950 to 1989.