Contemporary Culture Revisited

Associated Press
May 9, 2007

Chicago Dumps Racy Law Firm Billboard

CHICAGO (AP) -- A racy billboard proclaiming ''Life's short. Get a divorce'' caused enough of an uproar, city workers stripped it from its downtown perch after a week.

It wasn't so much about the partially clothed man and woman on the law firm's ad. It was the phrase that lawyers Corri Fetman and Kelly Garland chose that drew scores of complaints from neighbors and from other attorneys who said it reflected poorly on their profession.

A city alderman who lives nearby found a technical reason to jettison the sign.

''I called the building inspector and told him to do his job and he did,'' said Alderman Burton Natarus. ''It has nothing to do with content or anything else. They did not have a permit and they were ordered to take it down.''

Fetman and Garland say they're upset the sign was removed.

''They ripped our billboard down without due process,'' Fetman said. ''We own that art. I feel violated.''

Despite its brief run, the sign apparently was good for business. Since it went up last week, the two women said calls to their law firm have gone up dramatically.