The advertisement was meant to showcase North Dakota's nightlife: Two young men and three women flirt through the window of a downtown Fargo motel bar. Printed next to them is the message: "Drinks, dinner, decisions. Arrive a guest. Leave a legend."
It was meant to be "a little flirty, a little fun," said Pat Finken, president of Odney Advertising, the agency that created the ad.
Instead, some found it a tawdry come-on, prompting the state's tourism division to yank it from its Facebook page late Thursday after it drew dozens of complaints and comments.
One commenter called the ad "sickening," while another speculated about what the people in the photo needed to do to "leave a legend."
Finken and Sara Otte Coleman, director of North Dakota's tourism division, said Friday they were surprised by the reaction.
"It wasn't my favorite ad. I thought, 'Oh, this is a little cheesy.' I certainly didn't think it was over the line, or seductive, or in any way in poor taste," Coleman said. "It really just takes one or two (negative comments), and then people jump on the bandwagon."
The ad was among a group of 10 print ads that North Dakota's tourism agency posted Monday on Facebook to solicit opinions about them. Others show couples shopping and hiking, a pair of men playing golf and a young woman and her daughter leaving a historic wooden fort.
The criticism of the Fargo ad began Thursday, Coleman said. It was removed from the site, and stripped Friday from its place on page 12 of a digital version of the state tourism division's visitors' guide for 2012.
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