With a theme of “Family” for its 2010 St. Pete Pride Street Festival, it was expected that advertising would come easy for the state’s largest LGBT celebration this year.
Not so, according to Chris Rudisill, executive director of St. Pete Pride. Clear Channel, which has advertised the event on several of its billboards in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties the past few years, deemed two billboards as “inappropriate.”
In an e-mail forwarded to the press from Rudisill, the unnamed Clear Channel representative states that only two images were approved by the Division President and Public Affairs Director. Those two images were scheduled to appear on Monday, but now St. Pete Pride wants out of its contract with the advertising company. Scroll down to see images of what Clear Channel approved, and which were rejected.
“The ads themselves don’t portray anything sexual, immoral or offensive,” Rudisill said. “In that it was a corporate decision of Clear Channel to impose this censorship, it is the decision of St. Pete Pride to end our relationship with Clear Channel. Further, St. Pete Pride will be asking the local governments to review the ordinances granting Clear Channel special privileges in building new signs.”
It’s unclear if Clear Channel will refund St. Pete Pride’s $1,000 investment in the campaign, but Rudisill said the money is not the heart of the issue.
“We would rather lose the money than be edited on what’s okay and what’s not,” Rudisill said. “The ads themselves are fine and Clear Channel never explained why they weren’t acceptable.”
Veto power by Clear Channel isn’t anything new. In the past, the St. Pete Pride board would submit art and then what made it to the public was at the discretion of the Clear Channel Tampa Bay Division. But this year, the board didn’t want to censor anything, since every image, Rudisill said, was a positive family scene.
“It is sad, although not surprising, that the corporation responsible for allowing Rush Limbaugh and other conservative, anti-gay, radio personalities to spew their hate-filled tirades into homes across America, would try to suppress an ad campaign that attempted to show a positive image of the gay community,” Rudisill said in an e-mail to several press outlets.
He compares the censorship to the censorship of non-caucasians appearing in ads during the 1950s and 1960s.
“While our organization will not apologize for trying to portray our community as equal members of society, sometimes advertising can serve as a positive steward of change by resulting in those uncomfortable reactions that have the power to initiate dialogue,” Rudisill said.
The Eighth Annual St. Pete Pride Street Festival and Promenade is on Saturday, June 26. For more details and information, visit StPetePride.com.
REJECTED:
ACCEPTED:
