Perky Cups giant bikini banner (March 3, 2010) |
AURORA - City officials say a bikini and the First Amendment provide enough coverage for a model on a giant banner advertising the Perky Cups coffee shop in Aurora. But apparently complaints about the big bikini ad were just too much, and the banner came down Wednesday.
Aurora City Council member Molly Markert calls the picture of a woman in a bikini on the 10-by-20-foot banner "degrading to women," but she says it's legal. The big bikini banner went up Saturday at E. Iliff Ave. and S. Peoria St.
Perky Cups is a coffee shop that opened last fall that features bikini baristas. The new business has attracted a lot of attention in the community.
Markert says she asked city employees measure the banner, and it conforms with city size restrictions, and Robert Rogers, a city attorney, says the content is protected by the First Amendment.
Perky Cups owner Jason Bernal says people have come into the shop to offer support as well as complain. He says one customer complained, but stayed to buy a burrito and coffee anyway.
He told the Aurora Sentinel that as for the contention the banner is offensive and degrading to women, a picture of a young lady in a bikini isn't anything to get upset about. "If that's true they will need to shut down Utah Park because there is a pool there and there are women in bikinis there all the time," he said.
Coldwell Banker, which owns the building, removed the banner later in the day Wednesday. The company says Perky Cups is in default of its lease and is facing eviction.
Aurora City Council member Molly Markert calls the picture of a woman in a bikini on the 10-by-20-foot banner "degrading to women," but she says it's legal. The big bikini banner went up Saturday at E. Iliff Ave. and S. Peoria St.
Perky Cups is a coffee shop that opened last fall that features bikini baristas. The new business has attracted a lot of attention in the community.
Markert says she asked city employees measure the banner, and it conforms with city size restrictions, and Robert Rogers, a city attorney, says the content is protected by the First Amendment.
Perky Cups owner Jason Bernal says people have come into the shop to offer support as well as complain. He says one customer complained, but stayed to buy a burrito and coffee anyway.
He told the Aurora Sentinel that as for the contention the banner is offensive and degrading to women, a picture of a young lady in a bikini isn't anything to get upset about. "If that's true they will need to shut down Utah Park because there is a pool there and there are women in bikinis there all the time," he said.
Coldwell Banker, which owns the building, removed the banner later in the day Wednesday. The company says Perky Cups is in default of its lease and is facing eviction.
