Billboards went up within the last week or so essentially throwing various communities under the bus in order to promote Decatur as a city. After some serious backlash on social media, the billboards were taken down, and then, the Internet took their turn at the campaign.
These billboards were posted all over C-U, which included the one above, as well as jabs at Springfield and Peoria, too (photo credit Nick Rainey):
UPDATED: Our mistake, the billboards appeared only in Decatur, not in C-U as previously stated. Apologies for the misinformation.
This is so teed up, it is almost too easy.
Here are some I saw on Facebook:
UPDATE: Wednesday, April 3 at 10 am: Here’s a statement from Champaign County EDC’s Director, Carly McCrory, in regards to these billboards:
In response to the billboards in Decatur, we have the following statement:
It was unfortunate to see the messages displayed on billboards in Decatur comparing cities in central Illinois. As regional economic development groups working to build our communities, we believe that we are stronger when we work together to showcase our community, region and state assets to build a stronger Illinois economy.
The billboards were removed by 2 PM yesterday, Monday, April 1.
