Police Union Persuades Company to Change Billboard
The Los Angeles police union has put up some controversial billboards of its own--but members were not amused when they saw the latest advertisement from Sharp Electronics.
The billboards show Sharp’s new video camera, the Viewcam, with a police car in the viewfinder--which some officers found a bit too reminiscent of the videotaped beating of Rodney G. King.
Danny Staggs, president of the Police Protective League, was responsible for the ominous carjacking billboards that the union put up during its recent labor dispute with the city. But the Sharp ads struck a nerve among officers and Staggs complained to company officials, who agreed to change the billboards in the coming weeks.
“I was extremely surprised that someone would read that deeply into it,” said Daniel J. Infanti, Sharp’s vice president for corporate communications.
“There was no intention of poking fun, but if it’s that sensitive of an issue we’re willing to change it.”
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