Billboard sets all straight
'Alternative' ad that stirred fuss was radio station's ploy
The rainbow billboards that started rumors earlier this month that a gay marriage initiative was afoot along the Wasatch Front is actually a marketing ploy for a local radio station that plays alternative music.
A modified billboard installed Friday in Orem changes the original question "Alternative Lifestyle?" into the declaration, "Alternative Music Lifestyle" — in reference to KXRK 96.3 FM's musical format.
The faces of X96 morning talk show hosts Kerry Jackson, Bill Allred and Gina Barberi also replace a cartoon white church, and information about the station's "Radio from Hell" program is prominently displayed underneath an arching rainbow.
But with Barberi donning the clerical collar of a Catholic priest and the two male DJs dressed as bride and groom, the rumors won't be silenced any time soon.
"It was mainly created to do what it indeed did — get people talking and hopefully make them laugh," Allred explained. "Our hope was that it would attract listeners."
Calls poured into the station Monday morning after the trio came clean about the billboards and more than 70 e-mails were received within an hour about the ad campaign. Most of the callers expressed support of gay marriage, Allred said, and those who didn't still liked the prank.
Earlier this month, motorists began to notice the original billboards, which included a link to a Web site — www.alternativeutah.com — listed along with the words, " 'Til death do us part." But the site only displayed a duplicate of the billboard that had been posted along roads in Orem, Ogden and Salt Lake.
Though the billboards could be traced to Simmons Outdoor Marketing — a sister company of the Simmons Media Group, which owns X96 — a Simmons spokesman would not identify the advertiser, claiming the sponsor had requested anonymity.
"I didn't know which radio station it was. They asked to be left anonymous," said Kurt Horan, president and general manager of Simmons Outdoor Marketing.
In Orem, pranksters vandalized the original sign twice. In the first incident, the poster covering the billboard was ripped down. After being replaced, it was then splashed with yellow and orange paint — colors that so closely match the ad that some speculate the radio station was behind the defacing.
Allred would only say that "persons unknown" cut down the billboard, which "was not part of the gag." He also said he wouldn't be surprised if the new sign is also vandalized.
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