CBS Outdoor, a division of the CBS Corporation, recently posted anti-Catholic billboards paid for by the Eternal Gospel Church, a breakaway sect of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, along Interstate 65 in Jeffersonville, Indiana. The town is located on the Indiana-Kentucky border across the river from Louisville. Our response caught them off-guard and ultimately led to a victory.
For years we have been battling the Eternal Gospel Church. It is an old-fashioned anti-Catholic group that accuses the pope of being the Antichrist, among other things. While not nearly as upsetting as what employees for John Edwards have said about Catholicism, it is disturbing enough.
Instead of launching a formal protest, we decided we’d beat CBS at its own game. We told CBS Outdoor we wanted to post a billboard in the same area saying, “CBS Sponsors Anti-Catholicism.” All of a sudden we touched a nerve.
Their initial response was bewilderment. Then came their answer—we were denied. Fine, we said, now we’ll tell the whole world. We then posted the e-mail address of Wally Kelly, the CEO of CBS Outdoor in our news release. He was quickly bombarded with letters of protest. So guess what happened? They reversed course and said the offensive billboards would come down.
The people on our side are great. A week after we won, CBS Outdoor called to say they were still getting hit with angry letters. But it was too late to call off the dogs. (More on page 7.)
