California Festival Organizers Want STD Ad Outside Venue Removed

The organizers of one of the country's largest music festivals are in an advertisement war with a Los Angeles-based health organization over a billboard that promotes safe sex that was placed near the popular venue's entrance. For the meantime, it looks like the ad will stay stuck in the desert sand.

The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival is an annual event that draws over 200,000 concertgoers from across the country and is held in the desert southeast of Palm Springs. Some of the biggest recording artists in the world regularly perform at the event. A general admission ticket, which is the least expensive a person can buy, runs about $500, according to glamour.com.

As long as there is loud music, half-naked humans, and alcohol, some people are going to make bad decisions.

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Ticket sales have slowly been declining in recent years, and now organizers are dealing with another issue. Aids Healthcare Foundation put up a billboard about a month before the April event warning the public about sexually transmitted diseases. The festival is held entirely outdoors and is attended largely by a younger demographic. An attempt by Coachella organizers to have the sign removed was recently denied, according to siliconvalley.com.

I personally don't have any issues with the sign, and it's not as if concertgoers are seriously going to refrain from having sex because of a billboard. As long as there is loud music, half-naked humans, and alcohol, some people are going to make bad decisions.