While you will see the familiar faces of certain attorneys smiling down at you from billboards in Baton Rouge, you won’t see their caricatures on one sponsored by the Louisiana Motor Transport Association.
That’s because Lamar Advertising executives “will not approve creative copy that directly targets their clients,” according to an email shared with LaPolitics. The rejected ad urges residents to call Senate President Cameron Henry to tell him “we want real insurance reform now.”
The written copy was fine, but Lamar objected to a cartoon depicting Gordon McKernan, Morris Bart, Chad Dudley and Steven DeBosier standing on an 18-wheeler. LMTA wanted a billboard as close to the state Capitol as possible, explains Allison Strahan, the association’s associate director. Lamar controls most of the inventory in that area, and due to its location request and budget, LMTA was only offered a few options. After the Lamar rejection, and given how quickly insurance reform bills were moving in the short session, there wasn’t enough time or available alternatives to pivot to another vendor with a comparable location, she says.
—They said it: “Before you even ask, there are no raises for the legislators.” –House Appropriations Chair Jack McFarland on House Bill 664, which deals with the Legislature’s expenses
