Hanging effigies from billboards shock Vegas drivers

A billboard with a mannequin dangling from a hangman's noose near The Strip in Las Vegas prompted drivers, worried that the dummy was a real person, to begin calling the police on Wednesday Aug. 8, 2012. / Peter Dawson,AP Photo/KVVU

(AP) LAS VEGAS - Even by Las Vegas standards, it was a shocking billboard: A mannequin dangling on a hangman's noose below a black sign with the ominous words "Dying for Work."

Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Jeremie Elliott says the 911 calls started coming in as the sun came up early Wednesday, with drivers worried the stiff, black-suited dummy swaying at the end of a rope along Interstate 15 near Bonanza Road was a real person.

"It's a publicity stunt, obviously done in bad taste," said Elliott, adding that officials were focused on getting it down quickly to avoid distracting drivers during the morning commute.

The graphic display along the interstate was one of at least two unauthorized signs spotted Wednesday morning in the Las Vegas area. Another found on Highland Avenue and Desert Inn Road was white with black lettering that read, "Hope You're Happy Wall St.," and a similar mannequin hanging off the edge.

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A woman who answered the phone at Lamar Advertising Co., which owns one of the billboards, labeled the act vandalism and said the display was being removed. She did not provide her name.

Clear Channel Outdoor, which owns another sign that was affected, said they pulled the display immediately and plan to work with law enforcement to punish whoever is responsible.

"We condemn the destructive behavior against one of our billboards because it is illegal and punishes our advertisers," Clear Channel Outdoor spokesman Jim Cullinan said in a statement. "This is not an innocent protest, but it is illegal and dangerous behavior that Clear Channel Outdoor and the industry will not accept."

Although the billboard alarmed drivers, it's unclear whether regulations in the area ban roadside signs with graphic depictions of suicide. A spokesman for the Nevada Department of Transportation said there didn't appear to be state regulations on the matter, and a spokeswoman for Clark County was also not aware of rules against the subject matter.

While nobody has publicly claimed responsibility for the signs, the Occupy Las Vegas group, which is affiliated with the larger Occupy Wall Street movement, posted photos of the displays on its website. Its caption says the Nevada governor's budget has slashed social programs and aid to suicidal adults.

Sebring Frehner, an Occupy supporter who posted the photos, told The Associated Press he didn't know who put the hangmen up, but applauded the message behind it.

"People saying it's in bad taste are living sheltered lives and don't pay attention to what affects the working class," he said.

[lloydbest1]

However questionable the taste of these unauthorised adverts are; they do attempt to tell it "like it is". The reality, though, is as graphic as the billboards are, they are still a long way from from describing the reality of how bad the situation is.

I am saying "things" are even worse....

Last I heard, Las Vegas was running about 12.2 percent unemployment. This is not seasonally adjusted and does not count the numbers who have fallen off the rolls because they have given up, moved away or exhausted their benefits. I'm throwing out a number here but it's a good estimate, NOT something I pulled out of my....er.....made up but real unemployment is actually about 20 to 25 percent. This scenario repeats all over the desert southwest. In fact, Las Vegas is better of than Many. El Centro, in California, has a listed unemployment rate of 29%.

Do not blame this on welfare queens or lazy layabouts.
Do not blame this on an undereducated workforce.
Do not blame this on people too proud to take anything they can get.
Do not blame this on Muslims, Ni66ers, Libruls, socialists, the gov'mint, true conservatives or any other favorite point of abuse.
Do not blame this on unions or their sympathizers.

Place the blame squarely where it belongs; on the backs of the "Captains" of industry, the financial wizards on Wall Street and their congressional minions who meticulously planned this recent economic crash and skillfully brought it about. This whole farrago was not an "Ooops" but a delibrately executed disaster whose sole purpose was to enrich those few manipulators who are able to take advantage and drive the poor, middle class and near-wealthy into the ground once and for all.

And people wonder why we have Tea-Baggers, the OWS, crazy white people unloading ordinance, an uptick of hate groups, an equal radicalization of the left and general societal malaise.

[bileven]

Interesting, the assertion they "planned" their own financial ruin is an interesting fantasy. Now for reality... thanks to the financial collapse, the financial industry is been more and more placed under the microscope on how to better regulate... not quite the desire of anyone, including such self-serving tyrants.

Also, Nevada has the luxury of having the Senate Majority leader as a representative of that state.

The fact that their is a lack of decent paying jobs lies squarly on the shoulders of those that promote the growth of business. Positive tax breaks.

The simple fact that the nations debt is twice the national earnings (not taxes, gross income earned) speak volumes of the problem.

The President sent $1.6 Billion dollars to Egypt, for military support. A Nation that has laws that allow them to behead anyone that is not Muslim, anyone that is knowingly homosexual and woman has zero rights.

Imagine what could be done in this country if they kicked that money back to the American tax payers....

Under GW Bush, they had 3 years of Taxpayers got the bail out, and it didn't put us any deeper in debt. Under Obama, the banks and the Car companies got the bailout... taxpayer got the debt, 4 times the debt...

The fact that the top 1% have been burdened to pay out billions of dollars a year, already.. and you threaten them with more.. they will take their ball and leave. Making the financial problem worse and placing MORE dependency on the rest.

It's not too difficult to follow.

[nohater]

signs are rather silly.

[jayc9]

I love it. I just want to thank the people that put this up. It's the first add in a long time that I totally agree with. Thank you...

[nancy_naive]

USSR -- the place where capitalism triumphed over communism.
USA -- the place where capitalism triumphed over democracy.

[venusvegasvada]

The problem with trying to send Wall Street messages like "Hope your happy Wall Street" is that they really, really don't give a flying rats @ss about what happens to anybody else but themselves and their clients. They take one look at this and laugh.

That's because everybody else on the planet is a sucker that is here in order to give them money.

C'mon unrestricted banking with no limits, no morals and no control! Let's see how big the next boom-bust bubble can be? I mean you didn't destroy the planet yet right? So that means it's still game on right?

[tmittelstaed]

I see no problem with this kind of display at all. The people it is targeting are the very fools giving money to Wall Street in the first place. Every middle class wage slave who puts money in a 401K with stock option is essentially giving money to Wall Street. And those very same middle class wage slaves voted in Bush, who bailed out those bankers, and voted in Obama, who spent all his political capital in the first 2 years on health care, rather than punishing those Wall Street bankers.

And that very same middle class is flirting with voting in Romney who will likely even increase the corporate walfare state by giving even more tax money to those Wall Street people.

If the comfortable middle class living sheltered lives actually cared at all about Wall Street reform they would vote in a President and Congress that would do something about the pigs at organizations like AIG. As the man said, they need some shaking up and need to pay attention to what affects the working class.

Frankly, I think billboards along highways are ugly and putting them up is in poor taste. If they have to be there they might as well at least talk about something important, rather than advertising the next viagrkaka drug.

[Mike_in_USA]

kkltr--no you can't punish success. However, when greed threatens our economy and the love of money becomes more important than this nation or it's people, then yes, it must be punished or controlled or both. We must remembe that what is good for business is not necessarily good for America.

[realpatriot1776]

Romney 2012 and stop the blaminator

[royalstar05]

F wallstreet and F the Romney 1%ers of america.

[DCCorruption]

Did you know that Obama is a 1%er?.... Oh really, let's compare the net wealth of Obama and Romney. Oh, it shows that Romney could buy and sell Obama several times over. You were saying. Oh, and this is the same Romney who won't release his tax records. He doesn't want people to see how much money he raked in right before the big crash in 2008.

[royalstar05]

I agree with DC.

[Freckle21]

I love how thousands of people have sings that say what they want changed and what's wrong with the country and people still are saying that the occupy movement doesn't know what they want just because the media has turned a blind eye and said that they dont.
And as for this being over-the-top or indecent....really? Every day I drive to work I have to look at hundreds of billboards of stripper ass, i'm glad somebody finally put something up on a billboard that meant something.

[RichZubaty]

Bad taste? Come again! Ripping of the world economy for trillions of dollars and not going to jail for it is REALLY bad taste. Politicians who let bankers get away with this are in REALLY bad taste. This? This is just accurate, and funny. It's the best Occupy stunt I've seen this year.

[Filmguy870]

Total Word! Wall Street = Criminals! simple as that.

[foo8259]

I thought what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? Anyway, more serving suggestions: Dying for food. Dying for gas. Dying for rain.

[realpatriot1776]

dying for truth