OAKLAND, CA—What do Feelmore Adult Gallery owner Nenna Joiner and Bunny Ranch Owner Dennis Hof have in common? Oakland and billboards.
In 2014, Dennis Hof employed a billboard along the 580 Freeway, a major thoroughfare, in Oakland to promote the Bunny Ranch’s ‘Bar and Cigar’ offerings. Residents complained about the billboard, claiming it was advertising Nevada legal prostitution in California and seeking to have it removed.
Feelmore's owner is also using a billboard, not to advertise sex or sex products but is using it to deliver a message of relevance to Oakland and other communities in America: “Our Bullets Don’t Hurt.”
Nenna came up with the slogan in 2014 after the 84th protest in Downtown Oakland where Feelmore is located.
“Seeing people take photos while having hard conversations regarding minority communities in America and gun violence let me know it was appropriate,” Joiner explained. "Smaller businesses never want to interrupt building their business with such messages. There would have never been a right time. I could not have achieved all that I have without prior activism from my community which has also afforded me the opportunity to own a business but especially an adult business. In some communities, having sex isn’t the primary concern as is staying alive.”
There are many ways Feelmore could choose to give back to communities affected by such tragedies but this is by far one of the more visible.
For further information, please contact Nenna at [email protected] and/or Feelmore510 at 510-891-0199.
