Movie Ad Backfires

Director Vincent Gallo’s embrace of controversy to drum up publicity for his film, “The Brown Bunny,” paid off -- but it also appeared to have backfired.

A billboard promoting Gallo’s controversial movie was taken down Thursday after several newspapers, including The Times, ran stories about the sign.

Positioned at Sunset and Crescent Heights boulevards, it featured an explicit image in which actress Chloe Sevigny appeared to be performing oral sex on Gallo, her director and co-star.

Wellspring Media, the film’s distributor, was caught off guard by the move, a representative of the company said. A spokeswoman for Regency Outdoor Advertising declined to say why the sign was pulled.

The film about a motorcycle racer searching for true love will debut Aug. 27 in New York and L.A.