Billboard company won't accept Columbus' safe-sex ad
3/26/2012COLUMBUS — Plans for a safe-sex ad campaign in central Ohio have hit a snag as one billboard company refuses to accept a spot featuring a shirtless man and an arrow pointing “down there.”
The Columbus Public Health department’s “Take Care Down There” campaign is targeted at young gay men.
The Columbus Dispatch reports Clear Channel won’t accept the ad for a downtown billboard. A spokesman says the company objects to the arrow, because families and children would see it.
A health department spokesman says losing the arrow would dilute the message. It’s seeking out other companies to post the ad.
The $20,000 campaign is funded by federal money aimed at preventing sexually transmitted diseases.
It will also use radio spots, print ads, bar coasters, business cards and social media sites.