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‘Life’s short. Get a divorce’ billboard removed

Racy Chicago ad for law firm was taken down after one week

Image: Racy billboard
A city alderman found a technical reason to take down this billboard, but the law firm advertising on it is fighting back.
Keith Hale / Chicago Sun-Times
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updated 7:38 p.m. ET May 9, 2007

CHICAGO - A racy billboard proclaiming “Life’s short. Get a divorce” caused such an uproar that city workers stripped it from its downtown perch after a week.

It wasn’t so much about the partially clothed man and woman on the law firm’s ad. It was the phrase that lawyers Corri Fetman and Kelly Garland chose that drew scores of complaints from neighbors and from other attorneys who said it reflected poorly on their profession.

A city alderman who lives nearby found a technical reason to jettison the sign.

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“I called the building inspector and told him to do his job and he did,” said Alderman Burton Natarus. “It has nothing to do with content or anything else. They did not have a permit, and they were ordered to take it down.”

Fetman and Garland say they’re upset the sign was removed.

“They ripped our billboard down without due process,” Fetman said. “We own that art. I feel violated.”

Despite its brief run, the sign apparently was good for business. Since it went up last week, the two attorneys said calls to their law firm have gone up dramatically.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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