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Banned at the Bay Bridge: Too “Brokeback” for CBS Outdoor?

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ptannen:
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.
 

Jeff Wrangler:

--- Quote from: ptannen on April 28, 2007, 12:42:18 pm ---"Top Your Favorite Bottom with Real Whipped Cream."

--- End quote ---

 :laugh:  :laugh:  :laugh: And don't forget the chocolate syrup.  ;D

(Or peanut butter if you're Mainewriter. ...  ;) )

Thanks for this, Pete.

So what came first, the slogan or the song?

Our Liberty Gay Rodeo Association had a fundraiser for their designated charities last Saturday, and the song was played for line dancing. First I heard it.  :)

Meryl:
Hunh.  I don't know the song, but is it specifically about men?  I know it usually is associated with gays, but it could apply to women riding cowboys, too.  Maybe the reference to the sex act was their main objection.  Everyone's so worried the puritans will get after them nowadays.  It's sad, really.  :(

LauraGigs:
Yeah, sounds like it can be interpreted "straightly" to me.  Here are the lyrics:

Well, I walk into the room
Passing out hundred dollar bills
And it kills and it thrills like the horns on my Silverado grill
And I buy the bar a double round of crown
And everybody's getting down
An' this town ain't never gonna be the same.

[Chorus:]
Cause I saddle up my horse
and I ride into the city
I make a lot of noise
Cause the girls
They are so pretty
Riding up and down Broadway
on my old stud Leroy
And the girls say
Save a horse, ride a cowboy.
Everybody says
Save a horse, Ride a cowboy

Well I don't give a dang about nothing
I'm singing and Bling- Blanging
While the girls are drinking
Long necks down!
And I wouldn't trade ol' Leroy
or my Chevrolet for your Escalade
Or your freak parade
I'm the only John Wayne left in this town

[Chorus]

[Spoken:]
I'm a thourough-bred
that's what she said
in the back of my truck bed
As I was gettin' buzzed on suds
Out on some back country road.
We where flying high
Fining, whine, having ourselves a big and rich time
And I was going, just about as far as she'd let me go.
But her evaluation
of my cowboy reputation
Had me begging for salvation
all night long
So I took her out giggin frogs
Introduced her to my old bird dog
And sang her every Wilie Nelson song I could think of
And we made love

And I saddled up my horse
and I ride into the city
I make a lot of noise
Cause the girls
They are so pretty
Riding up and down Broadway
on my old stud Leroy
And the girls say
Save a horse, ride a cowboy
Everybody says
Save a horse, Ride a cowboy.

MaineWriter:

--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on April 28, 2007, 12:53:47 pm --- :laugh:  :laugh:  :laugh: And don't forget the chocolate syrup.  ;D

(Or peanut butter if you're Mainewriter. ...  ;) )


--- End quote ---

You want a quote, cowboy? As I recall, you were my beta reader for that chapter....LOL

L

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