498
Opinion of Stevens, J.
lated to consumer protection.8 Indeed, one of those cases expressly likened the rationale that Virginia Bd. of Pharmacy employed to the one that Justice Brandeis adopted in his concurrence in Whitney v. California, 274 U. S. 357 (1927). See Linmark Associates, Inc. v. Willingboro, 431 U. S. 85, 97 (1977). There, Justice Brandeis wrote, in explaining his objection to a prohibition of political speech, that "the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence. Only an emergency can justify repression." Whitney, 274 U. S., at 377; see also Carey v. Population Services Int'l, 431 U. S. 678, 701 (1977) (applying test for suppressing political speech set forth in Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U. S. 444, 447 (1969)).
At the same time, our early cases recognized that the State may regulate some types of commercial advertising more freely than other forms of protected speech. Specifically, we explained that the State may require commercial messages to "appear in such a form, or include such additional information, warnings, and disclaimers, as are necessary to prevent its being deceptive," Virginia Bd. of Pharmacy, 425 U. S., at 772, n. 24, and that it may restrict some forms of aggressive sales practices that have the potential to exert "undue influence" over consumers, see Bates v. State Bar of Ariz., 433 U. S. 350, 366 (1977).
Virginia Bd. of Pharmacy attributed the State's authority to impose these regulations in part to certain "commonsense
8 See Bates v. State Bar of Ariz., 433 U. S. 350, 355 (1977) (ban on lawyer advertising); Carey v. Population Services Int'l, 431 U. S. 678, 700 (1977) (ban on contraceptive advertising); Linmark Associates, Inc. v. Willing-boro, 431 U. S. 85, 92-94 (1977) (ban on "For Sale" signs); Virginia Bd. of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc., 425 U. S. 748 (1976) (ban on prescription drug prices); Bigelow v. Virginia, 421 U. S. 809, 825 (1975) (ban on abortion advertising). Although Linmark involved a prohibition against a particular means of advertising the sale of one's home, we treated the restriction as if it were a complete ban because it did not leave open "satisfactory" alternative channels of communication. 431 U. S., at 92-94.
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