Time To Ban Car Advertising

A radical proposal from San Francisco: if you want to end automobile dependence, stop fetishizing the automobile. Disallowing its advertisement would be a start.

2 minute read

February 13, 2006, 10:00 AM PST

By David Gest


Want to get serious about the problem of America's "addiction to oil" (in President Bush's immortal terms)? Ban car commercials on radio and television! So suggests a recently published opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle.

The author of the piece, Bob Ecker (president of the Bay Area Travel Writers), is not an anti-car fanatic. Indeed, he writes "Cars are wonderful machines, I'll freely admit, and powerful tools that help us maintain our modern lives." But, he writes, "our country's obsessive consumption of oil to fill the tanks of our auto-centric culture may eventually kill off the world, and believe it or not, Mr. and Mrs. America, you and I will go down, too."

For this reason, Ecker takes the position that it's time for drastic measures, and for guidance he turns to the history of the anti-smoking movement. In 1966, he notes, cigarette use was at an all-time high, with Americans 18 years and older smoking 4,287 cigarettes per capita. A ban on tobacco advertisements became law on April 1, 1970. Today the number of adult American who smoke cigarettes has dropped to 1,791 per capita (latest figures for 2004, from the Centers for Disease Control).

"This drastic transformation eventually brought about positive social change, despite the bleating of mega-corporations," writes Ecker. His piece in the San Francisco Chronicle raises the question: wouldn't a similar ban on car commercials do the same in the fight against automobile dependency?

Thanks to Jacob Allderdice

Monday, February 6, 2006 in The San Francisco Chronicle

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 9, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Bend, Oregon

Bend, Oregon Zoning Reforms Prioritize Small-Scale Housing

The city altered its zoning code to allow multi-family housing and eliminated parking mandates citywide.

5 hours ago - Strong Towns

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

6 hours ago - Smart Cities Dive

Green Skid Row mural satirizing city limit sign in downtown Los Angeles, California.

LA Denies Basic Services to Unhoused Residents

The city has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for trash pickup at encampment sites, and eliminated a program that provided mobile showers and toilets.

7 hours ago - Los Angeles Public Press