1-800-GET-THIN Billboards Being Pulled Down in S. Calif.
Billboard advertisements for the 1-800-GET-THIN campaign are being pulled down across Southern California because contracts with two billboard companies to promote the Lap-Band weight-loss surgery have lapsed. FDA and Los Angeles County officials have expressed concern about the ad campaign, calling it misleading. Allergan -- the Lap-Band's maker -- has said it will no longer sell the device to surgery centers tied to the campaign.
- "Many 1-800-GET-THIN Freeway Billboards Disappear" (Pfeifer, Los Angeles Times, 3/15).