A recent decision by Jamaican municipal authorities to take down a sexually suggestive alcohol advertising billboard has amplified a parallel public debate in neighboring Belize over appropriate content for shared public spaces.
The Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) confirmed it ordered the removal of the disputed advertisement, located in eastern Kingston, following dozens of complaints from local residents. According to KSAMC’s official announcement, regulators were alerted to the billboard last Thursday. After an expedited review of the content, the agency issued a 24-hour compliance notice requiring advertisers to take down the sign, and the order was fully carried out by Friday, May 8.
The billboard was created to promote “Rude Boy Original”, an alcoholic beverage brand. Its graphic design featured a bottle of the spirit placed between the raised legs of a figure clad in black fishnet stockings and high-heeled boots, paired with the marketing hashtag “#DrinkRude”.
While KSAMC acknowledged and responded to widespread public concern over the ad, the agency noted that it does not have formal regulatory authority over the creative content of outdoor advertising. Even so, KSAMC emphasized that it routinely encourages brands and advertising firms to exercise intentional judgment, prioritize community sensibilities, and avoid content that would offend general audiences in shared public spaces.
The controversy quickly divided public opinion across Jamaican social media. Some commentators argued the billboard was simply edgy, creative marketing that fell within acceptable boundaries for commercial advertising, while others insisted the overtly sexualized imagery crossed a line of public decency, especially for advertisements visible to children and families.
The Jamaican action has thrown new fuel onto an ongoing debate in Belize, where a separate Rude Boy Original billboard at the entrance to the capital city of Belmopan has already drawn fierce criticism from public and religious leaders. Church Senator Louis Wade Jr. has publicly called for the immediate removal of the Belizean billboard, which features Trinidadian recording artist Nailah Blackman holding the Rude Boy Original product in a pose opponents call sexually suggestive.
Wade argued that the ad represents an affront to Belize’s shared public morality, pointing to already pressing social crises in the country including widespread alcohol abuse, gender-based domestic violence, and the over-sexualization of women in media and advertising.
“I stand with thousands of Belizeans across Belmopan and the entire country who say this billboard must go: it violates the basic sensibilities of respectable people across our nation,” Wade stated in an interview with Plus TV News.
Wade also accused the brand behind the campaign of deliberately targeting women with aggressive alcohol marketing, while normalizing hypersexualized imagery that harms public standards. As of this reporting, Belizean authorities have not yet announced whether they will follow Jamaica’s lead and order the disputed billboard removed.