North Dakota Makes Me Nervous

Everyone’s opinion of what is or isn’t sexy seems to vary.

That’s not a big deal. I get it.

Different strokes for different folks, right?

I think that Jennifer Aniston, Zooey Deschanel and Taylor Swift are all super, super sexy and there’s a fairly large subsection of the populace who feel the exact opposite.

There are plenty of people—presumably all blind—out there who think Paris Hilton, (post “Mean Girls”) Lindsay Lohan and Courtney Stodden are sexy. Whereas I happen to think the three of them are all quite gargoyle-like.

Everyone’s mileage varies on this type of thing.

However, I think that the bulk of us can probably agree that the following photo is decidedly not sexy and certainly not too sexy.

Right?

Is it safe to assume that photo didn’t exactly get any of My Faithful Readers all hot and bothered?

No one needs a fainting couch or anything, right?!

I didn’t think so.

As it turns out—we’re all wrong—at least according to a poll taken by the North Dakota Tourism Division via their Facebook page last week.

Here’s the scoop from Yahoo!:

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.”

I know what you’re all thinking, “North Dakota has nightlife?”

This story is just jam-packed with mind blowing stuff, right?!

You might also be thinking, “How the hell is there any controversy over that photo?”

Apparently there are plenty of folks that actually think that photo is too racy or salacious to be fit for print.

I just don’t get it.

We’ve got a dude rocking cowboy boots and an Abraham Lincoln beard, all whilst carrying himself with worse posture than I even I can manage.

The other dude appears to be straight out of the 1974 from the neck down and straight out of middle school from the neck up.

Then we’ve got the gal with the patented “Midwestern mom” haircut and she appears to be in the process of pawing at the window like that ‘70s guy is an animal a zoo display.

The other two just appear to be giggling at Slouchy McSloucherton whilst sporting some sort of finger-in-the-light-socket hairdo and heels that I’m fairly sure don’t exist in North Dakota.

Needless to say, I’m not buying the whole “too scandalous” thing. Who’s with me on this one?