The crux of the Federal Communications Commission’s argument for a ban on cigarette advertising was that the public airways were not, in fact, open to free speech. License was granted to the broadcasters “for the public interest,” which the FCC was charged to maintain. The FCC required stations to maintain “fairness” in everything on the air, including commercials. But as political activist and law school professor John P. Banzhaf pointed out, airing a commercial that only shows the pro side of the controversial subject of cigarette smoking violated the Fairness Doctrine. He challenged the FCC to step in.

On this day, April 1, in 1970, President Nixon signed the act banning cigarette advertising from television. The decision came after a lower court and an appeals court said the FCC can invoke the Fairness Doctrine in its ban.

“The danger cigarettes may pose to health is, among others, a danger to life itself,” the appeals court said, but most people didn’t listen. There was no perceptible drop in smoking rates after the ban.