XANADU in Chicago has caused quite the stir today!!

[SakeDad]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 11:38pm

XANADU was in all the local Chicago press today on TV and the papers as there was some reaction to one of their billboards. The best place to see the info and videos is at the link below for NBC Chicago.
Xanadu like taking ecstasy

[tourboi]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 12:35am

Ridiculous. Haven't these people heard of a metaphor?

[Parks]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 12:48am

Wow... that's nice "You might need illicit drugs to get through 2 hours of this."


I can't believe they called Xanadu 2 hours!!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 1:21am

That's false advertisement anyway. The tour cast isn't as close to the high of ecstasy as the Broadway cast was.

[bundy5000]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 1:40am

Why don't they just keep their kids locked into a basement.

Seriously this just caused publicity. If anything the school is not just promoting curiosity about the show but also curiosity about the word ecstasy. People even said they didn't really notice it to begin with.

As much as I am against smoking in restaurants, using cell phones while driving, and the selling of cigarettes at 18. This is not only ineffective but clearly shows how shallow the people in the school are. It was a worthless effort. Kudos to them

Updated On: 2/28/09 at 01:40 AM

[MrSweetNAwful]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 1:59am

It created publicity directed to the townspeople, but I don't think specifically to the children, who were the main concern in this incident. I mean, if you wanted to get rid of a billboard in front of a school that "somewhat"-promoted the use of ecstacy becuase the children might see it and become curious/confused/whathaveyou (which was there problem), wouldn't the last thing you'd want to do be telling the kids "HEY THERE'S THIS DIRTY BILLBOARD OUT FRONT PROMOTING DRUGS! DON'T LOOK AT IT!" I'm sure it was done very quickly and quitely without most of the students noticing.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 2:07am

I don't think it's absurd to think that perhaps billboards that metaphorically refer to an illegal drug maybe shouldn't be positioned right in front of a grade school. I think it was just an ill-considered choice of copy and location.

[hpeabody930]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 2:48am

Any press is good press, right??

[SakeDad]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 2:54am

"I'm sure it was done very quickly and quitely without most of the students noticing."

While it was done quickly I don't know how quietly as every news outlet was alerted and they had the local Alderman (politician!!) involved in getting rid of the billboard! Clearly someone wanted everyone in Chicago to know about it, which probably defeated their whole mission! Gotta love it.

[Parks]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 2:58am

Do you know many 3rd graders who watch the news religiously?

I doubt many of them knew what was going on.

Updated On: 2/28/09 at 02:58 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 3:57am

I could care less about the advertising campaign....but SOMEONE (the owner of the sign) should have thought about it's placement. And the school is right to get as many folks involved as needed to rectify the situation.

Elementary kids don't get metaphors or similes. (Pssst....This one is a simile.)

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 7:53am

Its totally right, it should never have been placed in front of a school, what a stupid move.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 7:56am

Am I the only one who's upset about this? It's like a candy ad in front of a school that said "it's like snorting cocaine!" (awful tagline by the way).

[dg22894]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 8:27am

That is awful. Xanadu is a great show.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 10:14am

you are right, it is an awful ad line

[Jon]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 2:40pm

Tom Tunney, the alderman to whom the woman complained, is openly gay, and likely would be a big fan of Xanadu!

[Londonskyguy]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 2:57pm

I live a block away from where the sign was. It would be great if Alderman Tom Tunney worked as hard to get the drug dealers and prostitutes out of this neighborhood!

[pc1145N2]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 3:23pm

While I agree that placing this sign right across from a grade school was bad planning, the real reason the sign was placed where it was is because that's a very highly trafficked part of Chicago's "boystown." The sign has a very prominent picture of Max Von Essen and not so ironically, none of the other stars of Xanadu. If it weren't that Ecstasy wasn't the plague it is in the gay community, maybe the sign wouldn't be as offensive as it was. The people behind the sign hoped that the two things that gays will always notice....Ecstasy and a partially clad man. THAT is unconscionable. I hope Broadway in Chicago learns from this, but I doubt that they will.

Tom Tunney should be worked up about that but I doubt he is.

[Londonskyguy]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 3:34pm

I so agree!

[CapnHook]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 4:05pm

When I was in third grade I didn't know what ecstasy was, let alone how to read the word.

[TheCharleston]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 4:21pm

"When I was in third grade I didn't know what ecstasy was, let alone how to read the word."

Not sure that matters considering that third grade is in elementary school and THIS was a middle school...

[CapnHook]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 4:24pm

Ah. I misread that it was an elementary school.

[bdwaygirl]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 4:37pm

Both the video and the article say it's an elementary school.

[jpbran]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 4:41pm

You beat me to the simile thing.

Also, Piragua-- can't tell if you're serious. The fact of the matter is that they are NOT marketing the show to kids; a nostalgia-heavy campfest isn't aimed at kids-- candy is.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 4:48pm

I thought AIDS and meth were the plague of the gay community.