BILLBOARD WATCH - The Los Angeles Board of Public Works is meeting this coming Friday, June 10, to vote on a new 10-year contract with a Florida company to place 6,000 new bus benches with advertising throughout the city.
Alcohol advertising has been shown to be especially influential with youth, who frequently travel by bus and are the most likely to abuse alcohol. The company, Martin Outdoor Media, has agreed to ban ads for tobacco and adult-related things like strip clubs and adult escort services, but has refused to consider a ban on alcohol.
Alcohol is a legal product which many of us enjoy in moderation, but alcohol abuse is a huge cost to society in both personal and monetary terms, and the city should not be partners in marketing it in the public right-of-way.
Please send a "No Alcohol Ads on Bus Benches" message to the board, Mayor Villaraigosa, and the City Council by clicking here.
The coalition will hold a "No Alcohol Ads on Bus Benches" rally prior to the Public Works board meeting. The rally on the steps of the 1st St. entry to City Hall will start at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, June 10.
Please join this effort to send a message that the city should not be in the business of marketing alcohol on public property, and if possible stay to attend the 9:30 a.m. board meeting to deliver that message in public comment. In any case, please follow this link to have a message sent in your name.
For more information about the rally and meeting, call 212-840-3336
For more on the bus bench contract and other issues involving alcohol advertising on public property, go to www.noalcoholads.org.
(Dennis Hathaway is the president of the Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight. He can be reached at: [email protected]) –cw
CityWatch
Vol 9 Issue 45
Pub: June 7, 2011
