Classified Communication

The ideal of commercial speech is most fully realized on the daily pages of the classified advertisements. ¹⁶⁶ Justice Harry Blackmun's assurance that commercial expression will serve the high purpose of intelligent and well­ informed decisionmaking ¹⁶⁷ is best exemplified by the following kind of advertisements:

FORD­'76 1/2 Ton. 390 w/CJ heads.
New exhaust C6, new S. Swampers
$2300/OBO. 703­[123­4567. ¹⁶⁸

Similar informational advertising often appears in the Yellow Pages, in commercial flyers, and on store­front signs. To say that such forms of advertising typify the First Amendment ideal strikes us as comic, as well it should. These holdovers from the era of mercuries, broadsides, and leaflets do not represent the overpowering side of commercial communication as we experience it daily. What, then, are the differences between the classifieds and modern imagistic mass advertising? How do these differences explain the special affinity between the classifieds and Justice Blackmun's First Amendment?

There is an old­fashioned and romanticized quality about classified communication. We expect the seller and the advertiser to be the same person. We assume that the classified ad is directed to individuals searching to buy a particular good. We envision a simple message inviting one­on­one dealing to sell a single item. We look for text that explains the product and identifies the price. Above all, the classifieds represent the world of individualized exchange of commercial facts.

Today's advertising industry stands in stark contrast to the romanticized world of classified communication. Advertising and marketing agencies broker the commercial relationship by coming between seller and buyer. Rather than soliciting ready customers, modern advertising cultivates an overall spirit of buying among the ready and unready. ¹⁶⁹ Mass advertising by definition depersonalizes commercial communication. Simple text about product and price is easily overshadowed by metaphorical images and lifestyle messages. Above all, much of today's mass advertising can be classified as fantasy more than fact.

Thus, individual consumers communicate with each other through the classifieds quite differently than marketers communicate with consumers through mass media. This suggests why classified communication resonates more with Justice Blackmun's First Amendment ideal than modern mass advertising can. The ideal derives its staying power from two key values: the worth of the individual and the worth of informed decisionmaking. In principle, if the traditional First Amendment were ever to embrace commercial speech, it would find classified communication the most deserving of constitutional protection.