Atheist Bus Ad Pulled
Apparently, the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) has decided to pull ads from 20 buses, which were bought and paid for by an atheist group called, “Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers.” So how offensive were these evil atheist ads? See for yourself.
As it turns out, I actually agree with DART’s reasoning. People weren’t getting on the buses because they were offended by these ads. DART was losing money and this was a business decision. The fact that the ad wasn’t a negative ad and was as watered down as possible and was targeting atheists and not trying to de-convert people makes no difference. Now, that doesn’t mean that we have to like what happened and it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t fight to reverse what happened. In fact, I think we should all complain to DART and convince them that this will be a public relations nightmare for them if they don’t re-instate the bus ads.
It sucks that DART has to be put in this situation, but they allowed religious and political ads in the past and that opens them up to this type of thing. But the underlining problem isn’t DART, it is the people who are offended by such a non-offensive ad. I recently wrote an Examiner article about these Billboard and Bus ad Wars.
As more and more atheist groups are forming and organizing, we are starting to advertise more and more and we need to have a game plan for this type of thing. I am encouraging people to look further into this story and to contact DART and convince them that this type of hypocrisy and intolerance would not be good for their public image. You can call them at 515-283-8111 or e-mail them at dart@ridedart.com.
Filed under: anti-intellectualism, atheism, Current Events, free speech, Religion
