Mayor Menino hasn’t been shy about taking on private companies over their public conduct. First it was Nike and its “Dope” and “Get High” t-shirts; then it was Chick-fil-A over its position on gay marriage. This week, it was about vibrators. Trojan, a company best known for condoms, is promoting a line of sex toys, using a guerrilla marketing campaign that involves handing them out on public streets. A giveaway in New York caused a traffic jam in the Flatiron District. Now, marketers are looking into Boston locations, and recently asked about City Hall Plaza. This prompted a Menino aide to issue a sharply worded letter, warning that “many families and children” traverse the plaza.
In this case, unlike with Chick-fil-A, Menino immediately acknowledged the constraints on his power; the letter to Trojan’s marketers notes that City Hall has no legal authority to deny the request. To give away a legal product in an open public space — something that happens regularly in front of City Hall — a company merely needs a permit, which comes with a small fee. The city can’t require, for instance, that the giveaway be at night.
Comments
this piece is totally wrong. ma
Thank you Mr. William Jefferson Clinton circa 1992 - present.
Sandra Fluke a college student so poor will be first in line since it is free....notify Emily's List and NOW for woman...and the democrat party...freebies and this time the taxpayer are not paying.
No Republicans in that line, for sure. They don't get abortions either.
Probably can't get anything himself, and resents people who do.
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I knew right-wingers tended to be very unhappy people, so I'm not surprised at their sexual hangups.
Why not on the plaza, the hall's been screwing us for years anyway.