Kingston mayor says KSAMC did not approve controversial Rude Boy drink billboard

Kingston Mayor Andrew Swaby has pushed back against claims that the Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) approved a Rude Boy Original Drink billboard that sparked fierce criticism on social media.

The outdoor advertisement showed a drink bottle positioned between what appeared to be the legs of a woman in fishnet stockings. Many online commentators called the creative highly offensive. The sign has since been taken down, but public debate has centred on how it was allowed to go up at all.

Swaby told reporters that the structure was installed in a designated sterile area without the corporation’s required approval. He said that one week before a meeting with outdoor advertising stakeholders, KSAMC had already written to relevant advertisers instructing them to remove signs displayed in sterile zones, including that site.

Following the stakeholder session, the unauthorized sign was removed by the corporation, the mayor said. Officials later learned that an earlier display at the location had been swapped for the billboard that later fuelled the uproar.

When that replacement was flagged to KSAMC on Thursday, 7 May, the corporation issued a 24-hour notice for its removal, which the advertisers complied with, Swaby said.

He stressed that KSAMC does not approve or regulate the creative content and artwork that companies place on approved signage. The corporation’s clearance process, he explained, covers specifications such as size, placement, structure, location, and compliance with planning and safety rules. Decisions about what appears on a board rest with the advertising firm and its client.

Even so, Swaby maintained that the municipal body still has a moral standard to uphold, even as it draws a line between technical sign approval and responsibility for ad content.