The inextricably intertwined doctrine holds that when commercial speech and noncommercial speech are inextricably intertwined, the speech is classified by reference to the whole; a higher degree of scrutiny may be applied if the relevant speech ''taken as a whole'' is properly deemed noncommercial. See Fox, 492 U.S. at 474 (quoting Riley, 487 U.S. at 796). he central inquiry is not whether the speech in question combines commercial and noncommercial elements, but whether it was legally or practically impossible for the speaker to separate them.
Consider the facts at issue in the Supreme Court's decision in Fox. That case involved a First Amendment challenge to a public university's ban on commercial solicitations on campus. Several students and a housewares manufacturer asserted a free-speech right to hold 'Tupperware parties' in the dormitories. See id. at 472. These gatherings consisted of demonstrations and a sales pitch for the manufacturer's products, but they also touched on other, noncommercial subjects, such as 'how to be financially responsible and how to run an efficient home.' Id. at 473-74. The plaintiffs maintained that the commercial and noncommercial elements of the speech were inextricably intertwined and ...