Gang takes over hand gesture. Ad agency apologizes.

From Fox News article:

An ad agency hired by the state of Virginia used people making a gesture with their hands that made a heart shape to denote their love for the state. As anyone knows, the heart is a symbol of caring, love, and devotion.

...Virginia Tourism Corp. officials said Friday. The gesture shows thumbs and index fingers formed into a heart.

"Our intent was to show people using their hands to make a heart to signify 'Virginia is for Lovers,' " the state's longtime tourism slogan, the agency's president Alisa Bailey said in a statement. "For the majority of people, the heart sign is a symbol of love -- and the campaign's images intended to convey a love of travel and a love of Virginia."

But as the ad agency is all-knowing and full of research people....

At first, tourism officials thought the gang was a small group in South Carolina and continued with the ads.

So, something told them that a gang was using the peaceful loving heart symbol as a symbol of hate, terror and dominance over people and property, but decided to continue on with the ad despite this. If the gang was larger would they have changed the ad?? Since the gang has people, should the ad company not use people in their ads? Oh wait, the girl in the photo on Fox News is wearing RED. The color red is used by a major gang in this country. Shouldn't they have made her change her clothes??

Virginia is still for lovers, but the state's tourism agency will eliminate images of people making heart symbols with their hands in its upcoming advertising campaign because the gesture is also used by a violent street gang.

The Virginia is for Lovers "Live Passionately" campaign will remove images of models making the hand gesture, one of several signs associated with the Gangster Disciples,...

Anyone hear of them???? How much you wanna bet that no one outside of the Carolina's have heard about this gang? But, how many people know what the symbol of the heart means?

Then the agency received e-mails this week pointing out that the gesture is flashed by members of Gangster Disciples, also known as Black Gangster Disciples. The Chicago-based group is known for its large-scale crack-cocaine operations,...

Wait, I thought they were small gang based in South Carolina?? So, an ad from an ad agency based in Virginia got scared of a correlation between their ad and a group in South Carolina. And then they only pulled the ad when they learned that the gang was actually in Chicago, Illinois.

"Out of respect to those who have concerns about the use of this symbol, we will adjust the creative images in our ad campaign to eliminate any further misinterpretation of the heart/hand symbol," Bailey's statement said. "We regret if anyone interpreted the symbol as anything other than a symbol of love as was intended."

Who in this world would confuse the use of the heart symbol with gang activity and then think to themselves that the state of Virginia LOVES gangs and supports that particular gang?!?!? Again, are they going to adjust the ad by removing the colors of blue and red? Those are gang symbols these days? How about removing any hand gestures whatsoever? All gangs use hand gesturing to denote their gang affiliation or that they are worthy of being in a gang.

To succumb to and change an innocent ad based on the hijacking of a symbol by a gang is pure unadulterated cowardice. How else can you explain it? Should we stop using the symbol of the eagle as our national emblem because the Nazi party used it? Or because the Romans used it? Should we stop giving roses to loved ones because satanists use roses in their ceremonies?

And....

Should our police and military stop using guns and ammo because gangs use them too? Should we stop defending christianity because Muslims hate us? Should we just say, "Sorry, we will leave now and not say anything."

Bailey has said that about $400,000 was spent on developing the campaign, excluding the purchase of ad time on broadcast outlets.

Talk about throwing money down the drain. Are they going to stop showing people fishing because fish are most likely killed when caught?