�Physical desecration of the flag should include the use of the flag for commercial advertising or marketing,� said Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert. �We should not allow companies to trample on the Stars and Stripes for commercial gain.�
In the aftermath of 9/11 and afterwards, several companies used American flags in advertising or marketing.
* USA Today reported on October 15, 2001 that �Marketers such as Anheuser-Busch and Kmart prominently feature the American flag in recent ads.�
* Advertising Age reported on September 24th, 2001, that �Two days after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, posters showing a bold graphic of the American flag with a tagline, slightly altered from how it appeared in a past advertising campaign, were hung in windows of Kenneth Cole stores nationwide. �What we stand for is more important than what we stand in. -Kenneth Cole� reads the copy.�
* In an article titled �Madison Avenue Rides Wave of Patriotic Fervor,� the New York Times reported that �Flags were unfurled in television commercials and print ads as well as on Web site banners, signs and billboards.�
* Discover has marketed a �Discover American Flag Card.�
It is currently illegal to use American flag in advertising, but the law appears to be infrequently enforced. 4 U.S.C. � 8 states that: �The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever.�
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