I just recently returned home to Fargo and was immediately greeted by the new billboard on the 44th Street overpass to advertise for the radio station Rock 102. The tacky and degrading billboard features a woman holding two puppies in front of her breasts and the tagline reads "Nice puppies."
Now, I'm sure that this campaign was mostly male-designed and is aimed to attract the station's male demographic, however, this billboard is just plain embarrassing to the city of Fargo and its residents. Do we really want the last thing visitors remember as they leave Fargo to be this tacky billboard that doesn't even have anything to do with a radio station?
This summer there was a bit of controversy when Rock 102 put up the billboards of the half- naked woman that read "Now turn us on." These billboards, while also degrading, at least had a tagline that made sense when advertising for a radio station. The new billboard isn't even clever; it's just disgusting and demeaning to women.
The radio station's response to the complaints this past summer was to do nothing except tell people they'd be down as soon as that campaign was finished. When they finally did come down, it was a relief to me and several others, I'm sure. However, the second round of billboards is twice as undignified and even more embarrassing than the first. This billboard shows a total disrespect for women, and I would hope there were no women involved in the planning/approving of the billboards.
I know this probably won't change anything and getting a reaction from people is all the station wants. I was just writing this in hopes that people would conduct themselves with a little more tact and class.
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Katherine Nelson, Fargo, Letter: Rock 102 billboards embarrass the city 20071017
