7/18/2013 – OKC, OK — A controversial ‘Sugar Daddy’ Internet dating website unveiled a new marketing push near downtown Oklahoma City yesterday – an effort that was quickly thwarted by JohnTV.
On Tuesday JohnTV’s own Video Vigilante Brian Bates did a double-take while traveling along I-40 near S. Eastern when he noticed a large billboard promoting “Hey Students, Need a Summer Job? Date a Sugar Daddy.” (click on thumbnail image upper-left)
“I was taken back by the blatantness of the ad and the fact it specifically targets ‘students,’ which could mean high school through college. So, we are talking about a company specifically trying to exploit our 16 to 20 year old daughters,” said Bates.
The billboard is a marketing ad for the website ArrangementFinders.com.
Bates, who was actually returning from documenting street prostitution along S. Robinson Ave. in south Oklahoma City turned his car around to photograph the billboard.
Bates then did online research on the dating site and came to the conclusion that not only is the site a thinly veiled cover for prostitution, but that their marketing efforts in other cities often turn x-rated.
“Today the site is promoting getting a sugar daddy. Tomorrow they’ll be promoting that young ladies selling themselves for sex is a good thing,” said Bates.
Bates is referring to racy billboard ads by the same website that read “Because the best job is a blow job.”
A follow-up ad that has appeared in other cities.
Bates also warns people that think sites like this are an anonymous way to make some quick cash to get beyond a financial obstacle that they may learn the hard way that bad decisions have a way of haunting you forever.
“When you sign up for these sites you’re giving these unscrupulous companies all your identifying information. They know who you are, where you live and most of all who contacts you and who you contact and agree to meet,” said Bates.
Bates fears that this information may be used against individuals in their future, when they least expect it and when they least want to be accused of engaging in prostitution.
Bates next did what he’s best known for, drawing attention to prostitution issues that most negatively impact individuals and families in Oklahoma.
Bates posted the picture on his social media sites (Twitter: JohnTVOKC / Facebook: JohnTVOKC), along with a contrasting image from a billboard just over a mile away – a billboard sponsored by Oklahoman’s Against Trafficking Humans (OATH) that sends the message its not okay to exploit our daughters.
Contrasting messages regarding the exploitation of our young people along I-35.
Within a few hours the image was being shared by those that follow JohnTV and Bates’ efforts online.
Local media outlets also began to call JohnTV, OATH and No Boundaries International (NBI) for comment.
KWTV News Channel 9′s Lisa Monahan was the first to interview Bates and cover the story on Wednesday for the 4:30 p.m. news – live at the billboard’s location.
JohnTV Facebook fans also began calling the company that sold and placed the ad on the billboard, after Bates posted a call to action, in an effort to put pressure on them to remove the ad (the name of the company has been intentionally redacted).
The call to action by JohnTV and the response from the advertising company.
The outdoor advertising company posted online that they do not own the billboard, but that the billboard would be coming down.
Despite the company’s denial of ownership, their website clearly shows the billboard as an ad space they sell.
The advertising company refused to return telephone calls placed to them by local media outlets.
Fox25′s Kisha Henry interviewed Bates and Dr. Lori Basey with NBI and then reported live beneath the billboard at 9 p.m. and again at 10 p.m.
As promised by the advertising company, the billboard did come down.
Just after 10 p.m. last night – and less than 24-hours after JohnTV and Bates called for the billboard’s removal – the last piece of the controversial ad came falling to the ground.
“I’m very thankful that Oklahomans recognize that while a company may have a legal right to publicly post a racy ad like this, that doesn’t mean our community loses its voice to object to that ad,” said Bates.
The last piece of the controversial Sugar Daddy ad falls to the ground.