The welcome news of Adhsel reversing their decision to remove the Rip & Roll posters has taken a nasty turn, when one of the so called “controversial” posters was found vandalised on Thursday morning.

The Courier Mail is reporting that one of the posters posted at a bus stopin Spring Hill had been vandalised with the words “Kill ‘em all.”

Paul Martin from the Queensland Association of Healthy Communities, feels the vandalism is disturbing but not surprising. “We’re obviously very disappointed that people, presumably an individual, has taken such an extreme measure,” he said.

“We understand that not all people like gay people, but to deface an advertisement with a message of violence is unacceptable.’’

He adds: “While we’ve experienced a groundswell of support for the rip and roll campaign from the majority of Queenslanders there is a vocal minority and the gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgender community needs to remain vigilant.’’

OWED AN APOLOGY?

The Courier Mail also reports that Michael O’Brien (Michael James for Facebookers), the driving force behind the social media drive against Adshel, believes the company owes a formal apology to Queensland Association for Healthy Communities (QACH) for taking the posters down without permission.

“They didn’t ask them, didn’t tell them and QACH were paying clients, somewhere around $60,000 between the billboard and the bus shelters,” he says.

“I’ve thanked them for their actions to put the posters back up, their media release states they’ve returned the ads but there’s been no formal apology.

“Adshel have done the right thing but now they need to make it right and apologise.”

James also commended rival ad company GOA Billboards Australia for its decision to keep the ‘Rip & Roll’ ad going and even launch an online campaign, titled “Our God loves everybody, gay and straight.”

In further news, a new Rip & Roll campaign is being launched. Be sure to watch this space as further details are announced.