[UPDATED BELOW] The provocative billboard seen above on 6th Avenue at Watts Street in Soho seems to have attracted coverage from every major New York City news outlet today. And understandably so, as the billboard is incredibly offensive. As Suman Raghunathan told WNYC "...it is incredibly offensive; and its a crazy confluence of racism and classism." But for unknown reasons, it seems most everyone has erroneously reported the date the billboard was erected.
It should be noted the photo above was taken last week on Friday, February 18, so the billboard has been up since at least then. The New York Daily News reported the billboard was put up today. The New York Times reported it was erected Tuesday night. WNYC wrote "this week." DNAinfo reported the date as "earlier this week." The Village Voice: "...a giant new billboard today." WABC News went with Tuesday.
MyFox, NY1, and The Huffington Post did not note the date. Gothamist decided to go with "just unveiled," which you could argue is or is not accurate! That one should get discussed in a huddle. Looks like New York magazine is the only outlet which won't need to make an edit, as they described the billboard as "recently unveiled."
NYC The Blog called Marissa Gabrysch at LifeAlways, the people behind the billboard, to confirm the exact date the billboard was erected. (UPDATE 02.24.11: In a phone call this morning with NYC The Blog, Marissa said she was not sure what day the billboard was erected and explained LifeAlways bought the ad space with an agreement that it would be up by the beginning of this week. As LifeAlways held a press conference yesterday afternoon about the ad, she surmised it's possible people just assumed the billboard went up yesterday as well. [The date was not noted in the press release/PDF.] Marissa elaborated: "If anyone called me and asked when the billboard went up, I told them I did not know." She's also offered to call the company that put the billboard up, to inquire what day they did so.)
UPDATE: More discussion about the billboard on NYC The Blog's Facebook page.
Previously:
- T-Mobile: Network Faster Than New Parents Moving To Park Slope
- HSBC: Hollywood Trails Iran In Percentage Of Women Filmmakers
- Mid-Century Political And Commercial Advertising Remain On Lower East Side Building
- Pretzel Crisps Commits To Changing More Advertisements In NYC And California
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