united-states, legal, advertisingOk, in many countries at this present time & in Europe in the old time, many people advertises their businesses by walking on the street and speaking aloud what their businesses about. Normally, this form of advertising is suitable for small businesses who have customers located in a very small local area (such as small town, or a few city blocks in a city). These businesses could be selling food, buying junk stuffs, etc.
I still see a lot of people in developing countries doing that everyday. Generally, they record their voices into a tape and bring a cassette player with them. Then, they play the tape while walking on the streets.
So, I assume that that kind of advertising still works fine for them. If it is not effective then they won’t do, will they?
My questions are:
Yes advertising by speaking on the streets are allowed (doesn’t matter if it is for commercial use or not, it is a right as long as you are not asking for donations or money on the streets that requires a local permit.)
There are several forms of advertising that I see in the rural areas where there is actually pedestrian on the street. One example is a beverage company that hands out their drinks for others to try out. This helps promote their brand and product and they can also get feedback from people who try it out.
Speaking out load as advertising is indeed protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. However, advertising or “commercial speech” enjoys somewhat less First Amendment protection from governmental encroachment than other types of speech. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), for example, may regulate speech that is found to be “deceptive.” And the FTC keeps stepping up the types of commercial speech it regulates. Moreover, it uses a variety of tools to do so, but that is a discussion for another contribution.
As to whether people are doing it here, that depends on where. In NYC its common to have people standing on corners offering flyers and entreating people to visit their places of business, but in smaller locales, it would be pretty silly due to the lack of foot traffic.
I agree with A.J. Lawrence.
Is advertising by speaking aloud on the streets legal in USA? Generally, no. Commercial speech is regulated by all sorts of regulations, not the least of which are local noise ordinances, and disturbing the peace laws. See California Penal Code 415.
Do people advertise like that in USA? In certain areas, “carnival barking” is allowed. However, outside of a carnival or swap meet, this type of advertising does not occur in America.
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