Lamar Moves "Don't Believe in God?" Billboard After Threats to Landlord
Kudos to Lamar Advertising: The billboard company offered an alternative site to an atheist group whose ad attracted threats when it went up on a building in Cincinnati.
The ad says, “Don’t Believe In God? You are not alone.” The building owner received “multiple, significant threats” and asked that the sign come down on Thursday. So Lamar is giving the group, the Coalition of Reason, a board on a site that it owns — the 6th Street Expressway, U.S. Highway 50.
Lamar hasn’t always made consistent decisions when faced with free-speech issues. It has taken down ads that criticized Israel and refused to sell sites to groups who don’t believe President Obama’s birth certificate is genuine. In Alabama, Lamar refused to sell space for a different atheist ad that said “Imagine No Religion.” The company also flip-flopped on an ad that criticized a Republican politician over healthcare reform. (Lamar does, however, have a pro-hooker policy, at least in Texas.)
The last word goes to Shawn Jeffers, co-coordinator for Cincinnati COR:
“Everything that has happened shows just how vital our message is,” Jeffers said. “It proves our point, that bigotry against people who don’t believe in a god is still very real in America.
- Related:
- Christians Boycott The Gap for Not Saying “Christmas” in Ads (Even Though Its Ads Do Use the Word)
- Lamar Finally Finds a Billboard Ban It Likes: When It Hobbles a Competitor
- Lamar Refuses, Then Accepts, Pro-Healthcare Reform Ad That Blasts GOP Congressman
- Lamar Sells Billboards to Hookers But Not to Atheists
- Lamar’s Religious Management Would Rather Lose Money Than Sell Billboards to Atheists
- Lamar, CBS, Clear Channel Ban Obama Birth Certificate Billboards
- Lamar Takes Down Billboards That Criticized Israel
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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