Lamar Sells Billboards to Hookers But Not to Atheists
Lamar Advertising sold a billboard to escort service MyPlayBunny.com in Rio Grande Valley, Texas, after refusing to take the money of an atheist group in Alabama.
The Texas Play Bunny board says “I’ll be your play bunny” and advertises a phone number. Although the number and web site appear to be extinct — possibly as a result of this TV News report — a Google cache of the site indicates that Play Bunny was a “premiere” escort service. (Is there any other kind?)
BNET readers will remember that this is the same Lamar that denied an atheist in Alabama a billboard that said “Imagine No Religion” because the message was “offensive.”
The Texas branch of Lamar, and the community it serves, displayed a refreshingly liberal attitude toward call-girl advertising. KGBT Action 4 News:
Louise Betancourt said Lamar has very strict guidelines for anyone who wants to advertise with them.
“We allow anyone to advertise with use as long as the copy on the billboard is in good taste,” said Betancourt. “We don’t permit these kinds of billboards near churches or school.”
He said, in the past, they did not allow these kinds of billboards but now they do.
As for the billboard Betancourt said, “The billboard in question is not advertised as an escort service.”
Action 4 News went out into the public to get reaction and many said they really didn’t see a problem with the billboard … others would rather not comment.
- Related:
- Lamar Advertising Joins in N.C. Ruckus Over Digital Billboards
- Lamar Demands $1M Taxpayer Bailout for a Single Billboard
- Lamar, Canadian Supreme Court in Head-On Collision Over Atheist Billboards
- Lamar’s Religious Management Would Rather Lose Money Than Sell Billboards to Atheists
- Lamar Refuses to Lower Billboard Prices, Making It Ever More Dependent on Legal Strategy
- Sotomayor Once Ruled in Lamar’s Favor in Billboard Case
- Lamar Lobbies to Keep Taxpayer Subsidies for Billboards in S. Dakota
- Lamar Sues Detroit Over “Unconstitutional” Billboard Fees
- Lamar, CBS, Clear Channel Ban Obama Birth Certificate Billboards
- Lamar Takes Down Billboards That Criticized Israel
- Christians Strike Back Against Atheist Advertisers
Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools. Follow him on Twitter or send him an email.
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