Last year the atheists and the Christians got into an entertaining billboard war around Christmastime, with the God-deniers putting up a billboard outside the Lincoln Tunnel calling Christ a "myth" and the God-vocates firing back with their own ad showing Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, with the copy "You Know It's Real." It's unclear how many souls were saved or minds liberated (depending on your preferences) but it was good for the billboard business. However, this year Team God isn't taking the bait... at least not yet. more ›

Hot on the heels of winning the award that is closest to the Nobel Peace Prize, U2's Bono and The Edge are scheduled to perform on American Idol's Wednesday finale with the cast of everyone's favorite Broadway musical, Spider- Man: Please Make The Pain Stop Turn Off the Dark. more ›

The NJ Nets have been fined $50,000 by the NBA for minority owner Jay-Z's ill-timed visit to the locker room of the Kentucky Wildcats. Jay-Z, newly minted lifestyle guru and chicken wing enthusiast, was videotaped March 31 in the locker room at Newark's Prudential Center with the Wildcats players, moments after they had beaten North Carolina to clinch a berth in the Final Four. more ›

Last week, a new Duane Reade opened on the Upper West Side at West 72nd Street and Broadway. While it does offer a growler bar and seems much airier than the usual DR, residents were livid about the 24-hour store's bright billboard on the second floor. One neighbor described it to WCBS 2 "almost like a strobe light... It went from a very serene environment to like being in a club. When I’m in bed, I can still see the flashes." (Just like Kramer!) But there may be relief soon. more ›

The American Atheists insist they're not trying to anger anyone with their billboard calling Christmas a "myth" outside the Lincoln Tunnel in New Jersey, but emblazoning the word "myth" over a nativity scene has ruffled a few feathers. Among the angry is the Catholic League, who have countered with their own billboard on the New York side of the tunnel, theirs reading, "You know it's real. This season celebrate Jesus." The league writes in a statement, "Our approach is positive, and services the common good. Theirs is negative, and is designed to sow division. It's what they do...So after Christian motorists have had their sensibilities assaulted as they exit New Jersey, they will experience a sense of joy, and satisfaction, as they enter New York City." Sorry, but the joy of leaving Jersey has nothing to do with the billboards. more ›

A Right-to-Die billboard alongside a highway in New Jersey is angering some locals who have no interest in assisted-suicide (despite living in Jersey, hey-o). The 15-by-50 foot billboard reads "My Life My Death My Choice," and was paid for by the national non-profit group Final Exit Network. "I don’t think that should be up there," one passerby told 1010 WINS. "You’re advertising death." Well, death isn't going to sell itself, buster. This age-old product is long overdue for rebranding: Say, isn't time you gave New Improved Death a try? This isn't your grandfather's boring old Death; New Death is hip and easy—and available as an iPhone app! But don't take our word for it; here's what award-winning recording artist Snoop Dog has to say... more ›

Calvin Klein has a new racy billboard on Houston Street, but according to Stylelist, the company has censored their own campaign this time around. So prudes, just don't aim your smartphone in its direction and you'll remain pure. more ›

How serious is new Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov about getting NY fans to pay attention to his underdog team? He's putting up a huge 225' by 99' painted billboard, featuring himself, Jay-Z and the words "Blueprint for Greatness"—on the side of a building at 34th Street and Eighth Avenue—right by Madison Square Garden, home of the Knicks. According to the Post, "Nets sources say Knicks and Cablevision owner James Dolan called Jay-Z to complain. Others in the Knicks hierarchy called the Nets and the NBA. The Nets did nothing wrong, according to the league." more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] The Drug Policy Alliance wanted to put up this rather blah-looking billboard by the BQE Smith Street exit to inform motorists about the cost of the NYPD's boom in marijuana arrests. The ad refers to Bloomberg's disclosure (in an interview with New York when he first ran for mayor) that he has smoked marijuana. But apparently the mayor isn't feeling too groovy these days; the Alliance says that North America's largest transit advertising company refused to run the ad after pressure from the mayor's office. more ›

Last year a Queens community was protesting a strip club whose risqué billboard loomed over their neighborhood. While locals didn't seem to mind the Platinum Club being there (hey, everyone needs to blow off some steam at the end of a long day!), they did mind the x-rated eyesore. Now the club may vanish all together—the Daily News reports that the establishment owes more than $150K in rent and recently closed its doors after getting an eviction notice and not getting their liquor license renewed. more ›

For this decade's first "Get High in Public So You Can, Like, Stick it to the Man, Dude" day, NORML will be unveiling a new animated billboard on the CBS Super Screen in Times Square. The ad will highlight the increaased number of marijuana possession related arrests in the past few years, and call for legalization as a way to stop the arrests. more ›

That racy billboard in Jersey has turned off enough people that the NYC-based billboard company, CBS Outdoor, is buckling under the pressure and taking it down. The grievances aired include that it's too sexually explicit; that it is insulting to the city’s African-American population; and that it's an example of outsiders coming in and degrading the city of Newark. Amongst those against the billboard is Mayor Cory Booker, who requested that it be removed. more ›

Rapper T.I.'s clothing line, AKOO, has put up a billboard in Newark that has locals fanning themselves and suffering spells! The advertisement shows a woman holding on to a man's unbuttoned jeans whilst his hand is placed lovingly against the back of her head. Those gutter-minded Jerseyites think these two had, or are just about to engage in, oral sex. Blush! The image hangs above a major intersection, and Eyewitness News reports that while "people on the street said they never noticed the billboard before," they had plenty of opinions once it was pointed out. more ›

Tiger Woods is scaremongering PETA with his team of lawyers, and it's working. The animal rights group has put a halt on releasing their latest billboard campaign featuring a photo of the golfer; it reads: "Too much sex can be a bad thing," and encourages pet owners to spay and neuters their animals. The organization told TMZ: "In light of conversations we have had with Mr. Woods' attorneys, plans to run our billboard are on hold at this time." more ›

22-year-old Brooklyn Decker (born in Ohio and raised in North Carolina, obvs) is gracing this year's cover of the Sport Illustrated Swimsuit issue. David Letterman says this issue (and the much coveted cover spot) is still a "huge thing" for America (is it?). He unveiled the billboard on 53rd and Broadway last night, and the model will sit down with him on tonight's show. more ›

According to Councilman Bill de Blasio, the billboard industry is "synonymous with New York," and sure, billboards are always cause for a bit of fun and controversy in this city, whether depicting orgies or co-opting Woody Allen. But there have been some real game-changers lately—revenge billboards, billboards co-opting the President, and even an FBI's Most Wanted billboard. But with such rampant innovations spurring greater and greater feats of billboarding, it was inevitable those titans of advertising might find themselves falling toward the rough waters of appeals courts. more ›

You can take the orgy out of the Calvin Klein billboard, but you'll still be left with a one-man sex show. The latest image in the company's rotating ad space above Houston Street is pictured above, and Copyranter reports back saying, "His name is David Agbodji, and he's part of the new Calvin Klein Spring/Summer 2010 Collection ad campaign... I'm thinking five-story Mr Agbodji is going to light up the switchboard!" But this man is neither under-aged nor involved in an orgy with anyone under-aged... so maybe the downtown prudes will give it a pass? more ›

On January 7th, Weatherproof Garment Company got their money's worth from a billboard they put up in Times Square which featured a photograph of the President in one of their jackets, and received lots of press. It wasn't Photoshopped, Obama actually wore their jacket on a trip to the Great Wall in China, and the company later got the rights to a photograph from that trip. However, they didn't get any sort of blessing from the White House to use Obama's image to hock their product. more ›

Oracle exec Charles Phillips picked the wrong woman to two-time when he took up with billboard mistress Yavaughnie Wilkins. New information shows that the public embarrassment she inflicted on her former beau was payback for big lies he told during the 8 1/2 years they dated seriously. "They lived together for the majority of their relationship. She thought she was in a long-term, monogamous relationship," said Wilkins's cousin Misha Davila. "It never occurred to any of us that he was still married." more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] A woman who reportedly had an eight-and-a-half year affair with the married head of a major technology company purchased at least three Manhattan billboards in an attempt to shame the man. Ads showing Oracle President Charles Phillips posing with his mistress YaVaughnie Wilkins with the quote "'You are my soulmate forever!' - cep" have been posted at the corners of 45th Street and Third Avenue, 49th Street and 7th Avenue, 52nd Street and Broadway, as well as locations in Atlanta and San Francisco. more ›

This will likely freak out tourists, but the Daily News is reporting that sometime today the FBI will unveil a massive digital billboard in Times Square dedicated to getting the faces of fugitives out there. more ›

Yesterday the president of Weatherproof clothing company, Freddie Stollmack, defiantly declared he would not be taking down his company's ad campaign — which includes President Obama on their billboard in Times Square. The unauthorized image shows Obama in one of the company's coats during a visit to the Great Wall in China. more ›

We've spent a good chunk of time writing about illegal advertisements, but few have been as large — or caused as much fury — as this billboard in the West Village. Ever since the Equinox Health Club wrapped its Greenwich Avenue building with seemingly illegal ads, preservationists have been up in arms, according to Curbed. more ›