Our government asks: Where is your family while you are at the adult bookstore?
December 13, 2007 – 10:30 am
I was on my way to a friends house after work on Friday when I drove by a billboard that caused me to do a double take (above). To verify what I saw, I went back later that night and snagged a picture from across the street.
In case you were wondering and couldn’t tell by the name, Naughty but Nice is apparently an adult bookstore. The store is located at 38th & Main in Kansas City if you want to check out the billboard above.
The text of the billboard says:
You are here.
Where is your family?
Make an emergency plant at ready.gov.
I have passed by several of the ready.gov billboards around Kansas City and other major cities, but the irony of the placement was too much to pass up.
I’m not sure of the agency behind the campaign and the specific billboard placement, but based on this USA Today article, it appears to have launched about 5 years ago and has been produced and paid for by the Ad Council.
The Department of Homeland Security launched a public-education campaign Wednesday that urges Americans to put together emergency kits and communication plans so they can ride out a chemical, biological or radiological attack.
The multimillion-dollar campaign — produced and paid for by the Ad Council, which produces public service advertisements, and the philanthropic Alfred P. Sloan Foundation — has been in the works for nearly a year. Besides TV and radio ads, Americans will find brochures in their mailboxes and pamphlets in their Yellow Pages. The ads will direct people to a government Web site, www.ready.gov, that advises how to assemble a disaster kit and develop a communication plan with family members.
As the “About” page on the Ad Council website states:
A Mirror of Society
A review of the Ad Council’s campaign dockets through the years demonstrates the organization’s commitment to address the most pressing social issues of the day. To that end, the Ad Council campaign docket is adjusted to mirror changes in our society.
The Ad Council is positive in nature and as a non-profit, may not always have the resources to follow-up on every campaign. I’m assuming there wasn’t very much competition for the billboard above the adult bookstore, so the owner probably donated the space for a tax write-off. Once again, not necessarily a bad thing.
But putting a PSA above an adult bookstore doesn’t really fit with the primary activities of the Ad Council listed below.
Primary Activities
The Ad Council is a private, non-profit organization that marshals volunteer talent from the advertising and communications industries, the facilities of the media, and the resources of the business and non-profit communities to deliver critical messages to the American public. The Ad Council produces, distributes and promotes thousands of public service campaigns on behalf of non-profit organizations and government agencies in issue areas such as improving the quality of life for children, preventative health, education, community well being, environmental preservation and strengthening families.
Maybe the billboard was addressing more than meets the eye. Are you ready, America?
Technorati Tags: billboard, Ad Council, PSA, government, homeland security, Naughty but Nice, adult, bookstore, Kansas City
