Virginia Tourism Removes Double Entendre Hand Gesture

  Turns out the hand gesture that Virginia was about to plaster over bumper stickers,tee shirts and commercials is the hand gesture that is simple to one  the Chicago Gang "The Disciples" have used for decades.

Was  it a rush to judgment?

In a statement on Friday announcing that the hand gesture would be removed, The Virginian Pilot reported,

"Out of respect to those who have concerns about the use of this symbol, we will adjust the creative images in our ad campaign to eliminate any further misinterpretation of the heart/hand symbol,” said Alisa Bailey, president of the state’s tourism marketer, in an e-mail. “We regret if anyone interpreted the symbol as anything other than a symbol of love, as was intended.”

Kevin Hall, a spokesman for Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, said the governor became aware of the problem after several law enforcement groups contacted the office with concerns. Col. Steven Flaherty, superintendent of the State Police also raised the issue with staff members in Kaine’s office, the spokesman said.

“The governor is pleased the tourism agency quickly, independently and, he believes, correctly chose to revamp the campaign to remove those images,” Hall said."

Since when do we allow a gangster group to  trademark and "brand" a hand gesture that is actually quite lovely?

Earlier last week,when the Tourism Office thought that the hand gesture was used by a small gang in South Carolina, they still  planned to go ahead with the promotion. Only when they learned it was the Chicago Disciples that the decision to remove the heart sign was eliminated.

What's the real problem here? Are they concerned that the Disciples are going to be offended? Was the Commonwealth concerned the Disciples were going to haul them into court for copyright infringement? Are they concerned that the Disciples will think this is an invitation to visit to Virginia?

Instead of kowtowing to a gang in Illinois why not should start a campaign " Bring Back Our Heart."  The idea would be that people who want to have a good time in Virginia should own the hand gesture and not worry about what goes on in the streets of Chicago.  If the Disciples want to use a similar gesture fine. But the message should be they don't own it.

So listen to Leslie Gore, create a campaign to bring back your heart and use the hand gesture!