http://www.sfbaytimes.com/?sec=article&article_id=6333(also copied below)
Banned at the Bay Bridge: Too “Brokeback” for CBS Outdoor?
Banned at the Bay Bridge: Too “Brokeback” for CBS Outdoor? By Kim Corsaro
Published: April 26, 2007
When San Francisco radio station 95.7-"The Wolf"--went Country the morning of March 1, they devised an advertising campaign that sampled the Big & Rich Grammy-nominated country song from 2004, "Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)." Their television commercial, which includes the song, has aired repeatedly and without controversy on numerous Bay Area television stations since March.
But according to 95.7 program director Scott Mahalick, CBS Outdoor pulled the plug on The Wolf when the radio station tried to feature the slogan on a large, multi-message LED display billboard near the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza that greets drivers coming off the Bridge. According to Mahalick, they were running "30 second, 15 second commercials, which open with the hook of this song, "Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)" on TV sstations in their listening area. Mahalick says they didn't even "consider that it would be an issue."
But CBS Outdoor-a national subsidiary of CBS network that sells outdoor advertising--thought differently, and they delivered a flat, "No" to The Wolf.
Mahalick couldn't believe it. He says they "went up the chain" at CBS Outdoor, where they sent a copy of the TV commercial, expecting that would straighten everything out. "We were running it full motion video on every TV station and there's no problem," said Mahallick. "They just performed it on Dancing With the Stars. It's mainstream."
Still, CBS Outdoor balked and refused to post the billboard. Did they consider it too gay? Executives at CBS Outdoor were unavailable for comment at press time.
Most certainly, awareness has changed in the Bay Area. This writer recalls another large freeway billboard, off the San Francisco Central Freeway in the late 1970s, when the general public didn't have a clue about gay sensibilities. Nobody said a thing about the billboard until Chronicle columnist Herb Caen pointed out that the gay community was howling about this message that slipped by the ad agency and billboard company censors. The billboard, for something like the California Dairy industry, featured a stark black background, with a small picture of a dish of ice cream, with a dollop of whipped cream and a cherry on top. Across the billboard, the ad slogan declared: "Top Your Favorite Bottom with Real Whipped Cream."
Makes riding a cowboy seem downright tame by comparison.