Billboard Promoting Alberta As 51st State Sparks Angry Backlash

This post was originally published on this site

A recent Reddit post sparked widespread angry responses on social media. It also had the phone lines to the Alberta town flooded with even more irate calls and e-mails demanding that the offensive billboard be taken down. As the mayor later explained, although near a major provincial highway, it was put up by a private company and is on private land. It had nothing to do with the town, other than being a major source of embarrassment and anger.

The billboard was put up by a fringe political group that advocates for western separation from Canada. Their timing could not have been much worse.

Source: Daily Hive

A billboard ad in central Alberta promoting the province becoming the 51st U.S. state has sparked some backlash online.

The billboard, reportedly in Bowden, reads, “Tell Danielle! Let’s Join the USA!” alongside an image of Premier Danielle Smith posing with U.S. President Donald Trump during her visit to the President’s Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida.

A website attached to the billboard requests donations for a campaign to “advertise and purchase strategic media partnerships in both Canada & the USA, all designed to facilitate a winning referendum on joining the USA.”
…
While Albertans have slightly more capacity for entertaining the idea of joining the USA than the rest of Canada, polling suggests most oppose the idea. Albertans on social media quickly shut down the idea of Alberta joining the USA in response to the billboard.

“If these morons love the U.S. so much and want to live there, they can f*cking move there,” one commenter wrote.

“I sent the sign owners a nasty note — I doubt it will change anything, but these traitors are so irritating,” another wrote.

“That’s disgusting and anti-Canadian,” one replied.

The backlash had the town issuing a statement:

“The Town (of Bowden) does not condone any advertising that could be considered morally wrong or offensive,” the Feb. 18 statement said.

“However this advertisement has been placed by a private organization on a private billboard which is sited on private property.

“The Town (of Bowden) does not therefore have any legal right to demand the removal of the advertisement.

The municipality’s statement goes on further to say, “while we appreciate that the content may cause upset we are limited in options as to what (if any) direct action we may take.”

Billboard in Bowden Calls for Alberta to Join the U.S
byu/Appropriate_Duty_930 inalberta