This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Utah State Tax Commission approved a rule Thursday regulating the speed of speech in car ads on radio or television.
The new regulation states: "The speed of the words spoken in any verbal advertisement must be constant throughout the advertisement."
Commissioners gave unanimous approval after a brief discussion of the purpose of the regulation, which is to prevent rapid disclosures at the end of an ad that may be unintelligible to viewers or listeners. The rule is tied to state law prohibiting misleading or inaccurate advertising in motor-vehicle ads, which fall under jurisdiction of the commission.
New and used car dealer trade groups supported the rule, violation of which can be a class B misdemeanor.
The new rule goes into effect immediately.
— Dan Harrie