--- title: Big Soda Sues San Francisco Over Beverage Warnings description: The soda industry's largest trade body is suing the city of San Francisco over rules that would require mandatory warning labels on soda advertisements and... canonical: https://time.com/3973416/soda-warnings-san-francisco/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-27T19:59:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T09:37:17.780Z article:section: Politics og:title: Big Soda Sues San Francisco over beverage warnings og:description: The soda industry says the rules violate the first amendment og:url: https://time.com/3973416/soda-warnings-san-francisco/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte208015a99a33b9b/69885c9c196cf47ffe037471/gettyimages-476560638.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: &lt;&gt; on June 10, 2015 in San Francisco, California. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Big Soda Sues San Francisco over beverage warnings twitter:description: The soda industry says the rules violate the first amendment twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte208015a99a33b9b/69885c9c196cf47ffe037471/gettyimages-476560638.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Big Soda Sues San Francisco Over Beverage Warnings > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jul 27, 2015 7:59 PM UTC  Bottles of soda are displayed in a cooler at a convenience store on June 10, 2015 in San Francisco, California. Bottles of soda are displayed in a cooler at a convenience store on June 10, 2015 in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan—2015 Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jul 27, 2015 7:59 PM UTC The soda industry’s largest trade body is [suing the city](http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Beverage-association-sues-SF-over-soda-warnings-6404557.php) of San Francisco over rules that would require mandatory warning labels on soda advertisements and ban their display on city property. The lawsuit, filed by the American Beverage Association on Friday, claims the regulations due to come into force July 2016 are unconstitutional. The city, the complaint said, “is trying to ensure that there is no free marketplace of ideas, but instead only a government-imposed, one-sided public ‘dialogue’ on the topic—in violation of the First Amendment.” The legislation was [passed unanimously](http://time.com/3915485/san-francisco-soda-warning-label/?xid=IFT-Trending) by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in June and stands among the strongest laws in the country relating to sugary beverages. The label, which must be affixed to all soda advertisements, would read: “WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.” The plaintiffs in the complaint say forcing signs to carry that label “violates core First Amendment principles.” Other parties to the suit also include the California Retailers Association and the California State Outdoor Advertising Association. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3973416/soda-warnings-san-francisco/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3973416/soda-warnings-san-francisco/"},"headline":"Big Soda Sues San Francisco Over Beverage Warnings","datePublished":"2015-07-27T19:59:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:37:17.780Z","description":"The soda industry's largest trade body is suing the city of San Francisco over rules that would require mandatory warning labels on soda advertisements and...","url":"https://time.com/3973416/soda-warnings-san-francisco/","keywords":["San Francisco","Soda"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte208015a99a33b9b/69885c9c196cf47ffe037471/gettyimages-476560638.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte208015a99a33b9b/69885c9c196cf47ffe037471/gettyimages-476560638.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"<> on June 10, 2015 in San Francisco, California.","caption":"<> on June 10, 2015 in San Francisco, California.","creditText":"Justin Sullivan—2015 Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3973416/soda-warnings-san-francisco/","name":"Big Soda Sues San Francisco Over Beverage Warnings"}}]}] ```