CBS Still Refuses to Accept Pot Billboard

CBS is sticking to its decision to reject a marijuana-legalization billboard from a space the company owns in New York’s Times Square. But the corporate giant is apparently okay with showing a racist anti-choice ad on 65 billboards across Georgia.

The billboard, part of a campaign from the Radiance Foundation that argues black children are an endangered "species," has caused a stir around the nation. Still, though, CBS doesn’t seem concerned. Apparently, the company’s new position on issue-based advertising is that conservative messages are okay, while progressive values aren’t.

Though these billboards have been up for more than 10 days, neither NORML nor Change.org has heard from CBS about the company’s decision on the NORML ad, which argued that taxing legal marijuana could bring in billions in tax reveue.

I find the 'endangered species' billboard racist and offensive on so many levels, and while I want to support free and open speech for causes I support and those I don't, it's hard for me to say that it's appropriate for CBS to accept billboard that equate African Americans with animals.

In the comments following my last post on this issue, Dennis G. complained about a double standard. He wrote:

So why did change.org call for the removal of Tim Tebow's family ad? If it is about freedom of speech, then it shouldn't matter if we agree or disagree with the content.

Dennis has a point: this campaign has certainly exposed some hypocrisy on both sides. But he misses the fact that Change.org doesn't have a single editorial voice -- it's a community. I don't believe I ever advocated against running the Tebow ad. I believe CBS should accept respectful, issue-based ads from groups and individuals of all perspectives. The Tebow ad and the NORML billboard should both run. I just don't think that same courtesy should be extended to this horrifying Radiance Foundation campaign.

Pema Levy wrote about the issue and the Radiance campaign's wrongness yesterday on the Women's Rights blog, and SarahMC says it well at the Pursuit of Harpyness when she writes that racism and abortion certainly are connected -- just not in the way this billboard claims. She writes:

Black women earn less than white and Asian women. More than one in five black individuals is uninsured. Black women’s unintended pregnancy rates are the highest of all racial groups in the U.S. But you won’t see these anti-choice groups calling for better access to health care for black women or advocating comprehensive sex education and reliable contraceptive methods.

More than 8,200 people have signed Change.org's petition to CBS, calling on the company to end its double standard and accept NORML's ad for Times Square. Will you join us?

Photo Credit: loop oh