'Wyoming Has Gonorrhea' billboard removed after complaints

GILLETTE, Wyo., Nov. 5 (UPI) -- A controversial billboard proclaiming "Wyoming has Gonorrhea" has been removed from a street in Gillette about a month after it was installed.

Installed by the Wyoming Department of Health, the billboard went viral after posts on several social media sites.

The billboard, which was designed to encourage residents to get tested for sexually transmitted infections, resulted in numerous complaints to the department after pictures of the advertisement went viral. The billboard was removed last week.

Critics called for a more educational approach for the campaign, rather than the blunt message at the side of Highway 59.

Molly Adami from the Wyoming Department of Health defended the blunt approach in mid-October.

"Obviously, some people are shocked, but it's getting attention for an important cause, which is what it was designed to do," Adami told KING-FM.