Insider noticed that Grey Outdoor made the news in late January over a content controversy with one of their digital boards and a link to a video.  We finally caught up with Grey Vick and talked with him about the board (shown below) and what unfolded.

So tell us about the Plandemic billboard and who was your customer?

It was a Blip advertiser that came through the marketplace and I approved the ad to run. It was ironic because this was about the time social media was censoring a lot of videos and I kept thinking how outdoor was kind of the last frontier of more independently owned mass media.

Had you watched the video before you posted?

No I didn’t watch the videos but I would probably take a look next time!

What was the reaction to the ad once you had it posted?

Nothing happened for a few days until a lady emailed me saying that I needed to take the ads down as it was “ fake news”. Once the news hit Facebook the reaction was very split over the ad.

Was there a group or a person that provided you some helpful feedback on their concerns about the ad?

It was one lady that called the news and it became an issue that a “billboard advertises information that was considered false or unproven”. But hearing from more people once it hit the news helped us see both sides of the issue.

How did you resolve their concerns?

At first we just decided it was best to remain neutral and not remove the ads. Our policy is to run ads as long as the ads aren’t explicit or offensive ( or something I wouldn’t want my 2 year old to see). Hard to tell whether we as outdoor owners need to become fact checkers. Later we determined it was best to remove the ads to avoid risking anyone get sick or be harmed by the information in the documentary. We believe wholeheartedly in the first amendment and freedom of speech but would rather not contribute to any influence on anyone getting misinformation no matter the topic.

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