It seems the nudity on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire is not limited merely to Paz De La Huerta perpetually spilling out of her cocktail dress—now it’s spilling out onto the actual streets of Atlantic City, where a giant butt-bedecked billboard inspired by the show has sparked controversy. Superior Court Judge Nelson Johnson—who wrote the Boardwalk Empire book that the series is based on—has totally impartially ruled that the New Jersey transit agency should refrain from trying to get rid of said billboard for the Resorts Casino Hotel, which bought the space over the Atlantic City Expressway to advertise the new Roaring ‘20s-inspired stage show it’s adopted to capitalize on Boardwalk’s popularity. Emblazoned with the title “Moonshine Follies,” the ad shows a “nearly naked girl’s backside,” with the word “moon” helpfully highlighted just east of her right buttock. (It certainly shares Boardwalk Empire’s subtle way with symbolism.)
NJ Transit says it's received some complaints, not least because it's just the latest in a line of controversial campaigns by the casino's owner, Dennis Gomes, which have included such promotions as using Fidel Castro to advertise his Cuban restaurant and a spot for his Indiana casino that featured a Barack Obama impersonator—that last one even scoring an official rebuke from the White House. Gomes, of course, isn't sweating it, issuing the soon-to-be-immortal words, “I've got five kids and they've seen butts all their lives and they all turned out fine.” Except, of course, that they've apparently spent their whole lives looking at butts. Seems a little obsessive, don't you think?
[Photo via Atlantic City Weekly]