Days after drawing criticism over a sexually suggestive image, a controversial billboard promoting the AKOO clothing brand will be taken down.
According to the Star-Ledger, CBS Outdoor, the New York-based billboard company responsible for the advertisement, confirmed it would take steps to remove the billboard.
AKOO is owned by Grammy winning rapper/actor T.I., who founded the company with Grand Hustle Entertainment CEO Jason Geter.
The billboard’s image of a woman kneeling in front of a standing man while pulling down his unbuckled jeans generated a multitude of feedback from Newark, New Jersey residents who found the ad offensive and felt it was too sexually explicit to be located to be located in one of the city’s busiest intersections.
Complaints from the residents as well as negative publicity from media sources ultimately resulted in CBS Outdoor changing its view on the billboard.
Last week, company officials defended the suggestive advertisement, saying the billboard was within its guidelines for decency.
News of the AKOO billboard’s removal comes after the office of Newark Mayor Corey Booker announced plans for the city’s Office of Corporation Counsel to review options for having the advertisement taken down.
Despite releasing a statement addressing the billboard controversy on Monday (March 1), AKOO has not commented on the advertisement’s removal from its location on the corner of Market and Washington Streets in Newark.