The Massachusetts state Outdoor Advertising Board has ordered Boston developer John Rosenthal to remove a billboard that sits atop a parking garage between Fenway Park and the Massachusetts Turnpike which shows George Bush's eyes and the phrase "Little Brother Is Watching," according to the Boston Globe (via MediaBuyerPlanner). The billboard advertises Littlebrotheriswatching.com, a website that questions the legality of Bush's domestic wiretapping program and offers T-shirts for sale.
Thought the billboard doesn't qualify for a permit, Rosenthal has for years used it to advertise banks and Bickford's, with no complaint. Last year, however, when Rosenthal had a Hummer ad on the sign, he had to take it down when the Outdoor Advertising Board, under a new head, audited statewide signs and asked him to remove it.
Rosenthal, who owns and funds an iconic gun safety billboard along the Mass Turnpike in Kenmore Square, said that he believed that the Little Brother sign, with its noncommercial public-service use, wouldn't be challenged. Instead, the letter from the Outdoor Advertising Board said, "You are directed to remove this billboard forthwith."
The article points out that it is the Republican state government that wants the billboard taken down.